MRT 7 will ease relocation

Mayor Herbert Bautista is probably right about the professional squatters in the Agham area who are now being cleared to create a modern central business district for Quezon City. Indeed, many of the slum lords are powerful people in the local realm, including political ward leaders of city politicians. I think that’s why Bistek said as much because he knows.

It is unfortunate there was violence last Monday after the deadline for the so-called informal settlers to leave had passed. Of course the self proclaimed militant left took advantage of the situation to make everything worse.

Then again, the slum lords are able to survive attempts to relocate the squatters because government’s housing program for the poor had been ineffectual through the years. A lot of money had been spent for the effort, but corruption within the NHA and a lack of attention to the entirety of the problem wasted resources.

Relocation areas have been set too far from where jobs or livelihoods can be had. Sapang Palay in San Jose del Monte, Bulacan had been there for about 50 years now but it will only become an attractive option if settlers have access to cheap public transportation back to the metropolis.

Now, they are talking of Sapang Palay again for the Agham settlers, but I am sure the cost of transportation to the Trinoma area where their livelihoods likely are will be significant. This is why that stalled project to build MRT 7 that connects Sapang Palay to Trinoma is now more relevant and urgent as ever.

One other area mentioned as a relocation site is somewhere in Novaliches, which is probably along the same MRT 7 route. If the bureaucrats at DOF, DOTC and NEDA can just get off their high horses and facilitate the MRT 7’s approval, it will be easier to convince informal settlers to move a little further away from the city.

The other resettlement area mentioned is in Bocaue, Bulacan and two more are in Montalban, Rizal. The one in Bocaue will probably be more accessible and attractive if there is a commuter rail system in what is now the NorthRail line. The site in Montalban, Rizal is really going to be a pain as it is literally in the bundoks and no mass transit system to connect it to LRT 2 in Marikina seems viable for now.

Indeed there are relocation sites in Cavite as well but the LRT 1 extension will probably become operational only after P-Noy’s term, if at all. The LRT 1 extension and the MRT 7 have been undergoing government’s approval process for more than a decade now through three or maybe even four administrations and we have yet to see the first shovel of dirt moved. It is to go through another NEDA approval, supposedly the last hurdle.

In many other countries, people live far from the central city but they have an efficient mass transit system in place. I cannot understand why several generations of government planners and decision makers failed to see the relationship between effective mass transit and our futile effort to make sense of our current land use reality.

Because we don’t have an affordable and reliable means of mass transport, all sorts of make shift solutions from jeepneys, those Tamaraw PUVs and colorum buses clog our streets and highways. Those who can afford buy cars and that’s also a big part of the traffic problem.

Indeed, someone once said that a developed country is not a place where the poor have cars. It’s where the rich use public transportation. That’s how it is in New York where Michael Bloomberg, the billionaire mayor takes the subway to go to office. Maybe if those DOTC usecs were required to take the MRT to their office in Greenhills daily, improvements will happen.

In any case, a mass transit system is a must for our metropolis. As transport infrastructure expert Rene Santiago puts it, “no large cities ever solved their congestion problems by relying on private cars. Urban mobility needs a good public transport system.”

And we need to quickly expand the reach of whatever limited mass transit system we already have beyond the city limits to the adjoining provinces. That will enable people to live a little further where property prices are more reasonable and still keep their city jobs.

Rene puts urban railway at the top of the public transport hierarchy. But for us, less than 10 percent of daily trips are carried by the four rail lines. Our problem, according to Rene lies in the inordinate amount of time it takes to expand the system. Indeed, our rail systems have not really expanded outside of the few kilometers from Balintawak to Trinoma.

“Our weak institutions stretch execution to decades. Line 1 extension to Cavite should have been completed in 2004; Line 2 extension to Masinag in 2009; and Line 3 upgraded three years ago. These expensive assets are badly managed; maintenance is treated like a janitorial service.

“Bills to reform the rail sector have languished in Congress in the last 15 years. Everyone opted ‘to kick the can down the road’ – including the necessity of adjusting fares. While many countries – developed and developing - have already changed their business models, our railway entities are still locked in the archaic ways of the past.”

Rene believes “the solution is to privatize all the three rail lines, including the PNR commuter service – akin to what was done on water supply. If we want world-class rail transit, we have to professionalize their management. That will not happen under public sector management.”

The other alternative, Rene suggests is putting up BRT (bus rapid transit) lines in the major roads of Metro Manila. Rene thinks the BRT will be the cost-effective solution to addressing urban mobility problems (as shown by many experiences in Latin America, Australia and Asia).

“It also offers a platform for the existing bus operators to work together. BRT systems have the potential to deliver passenger capacities comparable to railway systems, at a fraction of the cost of rail. Well-planned and designed BRT systems also put a high premium on customer service.  After all, passengers are a public transport system’s customers, and they deserve nothing less.”

It is clear that we are not exactly out of options. The problem is government’s ability to make decisions. MRT, LRT, BRT… these options are all available. Having one or the other will expand the options of urban dwellers, not just the informal settlers, of where to live. In a sense, everything starts from a functioning mass transit system. That is like the veins and arteries that carry life sustaining blood throughout a body.

The unfortunate thing is that we do not have enough time to get anything done at the rate DOTC is acting. That being the case, it is difficult to force the informal settlers to move out of the banks of esteros and rivers. It will also be too bloody to get them out of a prime area like Agham that could be made more economically productive for everyone.

Why can’t the DOTC technocrats see how badly they are holding up the nation’s development? Worse, even if they are supposed to be topnotch lawyers, how come they can’t seem to conduct a successful bidding of any project?

P-Noy has to act… have a tantrum if that is what it would take to get the attention of the DOTC lawyers holding up the show.

Otherwise, P-Noy will also have to bear much of the blame for the failure of his administration to accomplish much beyond the press releases. What a letdown that would be.

Algebra

Relationships are a lot like algebra... Ever looked at your X and wondered Y?

Boo Chanco’s e-mail address is bchanco@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @boochanco