MMDA told to prevent school opening gridlocks

MANILA, Philippines - Sen. Francis Escudero called on the Metro Manila Development Authority yesterday to prepare a traffic plan for tomorrow’s school opening to prevent costly gridlocks that usually occur at this time.

“Time and again, the opening of classes worsens the traffic situation in Metro Manila,” Escudero said. “With all its resources, including the video tracking devices at its disposal, the MMDA will have no excuses when commuters get tangled up in traffic.”

He said the Citizen’s Traffic Watch, a non-government organization, said more than P15 billion a year is lost to delays due to traffic gridlocks in Metro Manila.

“This is even a conservative estimate. The Department of Transportation and Communications even approximate the losses due to traffic at P140 billion a year, taking into consideration the direct and indirect economic losses,” Escudero said.

He said another study undertaken six years ago by the University of the Philippines Center for Transportation Studies estimated the direct economic losses due to traffic at P100 billion annually, excluding the indirect losses.

“This is lot of money wasted because of incompetence. This is a handicap which has cost in terms of investments lost,” Escudero said.

He said a total of 18.6 million students in primary and secondary educational institutions nationwide would report for class on Monday, along with some 700,000 college students, mostly in Metro Manila.

Aside from these figures, Escudero also said of the 5.53 million registered vehicles nationwide, over 30 percent are in Metro Manila.

“These vehicles ply a 4,900 kilometer road network enclosed in a 635 square-meter area. One need not wonder then that traffic in the metropolis will move at a snail’s pace if it is not managed well,” he said.        – Aurea Calica