Government studies earlier work hours for state offices to ease traffic

MANILA, Philippines — The government has floated the idea of implementing a "daylight saving time" system in which state workers in Metro Manila would report to and leave work earlier to ease congestion during peak traffic periods.

Under the plan that the Metro Manila Development Authority proposed to President Rodrigo Duterte at a televised briefing Tuesday, all government work in the capital region should start at 7 a.m. and end earlier at 4 p.m. from Monday to Friday.

MMDA, the policy-making agency that manages traffic in Metro Manila, made the proposal as heavy traffic returns to the capital region due to looser mobility restrictions. MMDA chair Romando Artes explained that the plan was patterned on practices of other cities abroad like New York.

This way, Artes said government employees will not add to the traffic congestion during rush hours in the morning and in the afternoon. He added that the proposal was already under consultation with the Civil Service Commission. 

In the same presidential briefing, Artes likewise proposed a four-day workweek, echoing the suggestion of Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Karl Kendrick Chua.

Artes said the new setup could be in the form of four, 10-hour working days, or a work-from-home arrangement once a week. But he said this proposal still requires more study and consultation with the labor department especially in determining the right compensation for overtime work.

New number coding scheme

MMDA also proposed two new number coding schemes banning vehicles from public roads during rush hours on two weekdays to curb heavy traffic in Metro Manila. The suggestions were product of the MMDA's recently-concluded "traffic summit" with private sector groups, Artes told Duterte.

Artes proposed an odd-even scheme to cut down traffic by 50%, where plate numbers ending with odd numbers will be prohibited during rush hour on Monday and Thursday while even numbers are barred on Tuesday and Friday. No coding will be observed on Wednesday under this proposal. 

Another proposal is the modified number coding scheme which aims to reduce traffic volume by 40%. 

• Monday: plate numbers ending in 1, 2, 3, 4
• Tuesday: plate numbers ending in 5, 6, 7, 8
• Wednesday: cars with plate numbers ending in 9, 0, 1, 2
• Thursday: cars with plate numbers ending in 3, 4, 5, 6
• Friday: cars with plate numbers ending in 7, 8, 9, 0

Artes said the original scheme only reduces traffic by 20%. 

Citing MMDA data, Artes said that last year alone, 300,000 vehicles were sold. He said  60-70% of those cars go in  and out of Metro Manila. 

"Each one was in agreement that there are too many cars in Metro Manila and we really need to reduce them," he said. 

The MMDA chief also said that constructing safe walkways and bicycle lanes for commuters would incentivize walking or cycling to work, which could reduce vehicular traffic. 

In a 2018 study, the Japan International Cooperation Agency said that traffic costs the Philippines P3.5 billion in "lost opportunities" daily. The amount is expected to triple in number by the year 2030.