MMDA: Traffic jams a ‘decade-old problem’

MANILA, Philippines — After Metro Manila was labeled as the most traffic-congested in the world in 2023 by a transportation data-sharing website, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) said yesterday that road congestion in the metropolis is a “decade-old problem.”

Digital navigation site TomTom revealed in its 2023 Traffic Index report that among the world’s 387 “metro areas,” Metro Manila topped the list with a travel time of 25 minutes and 30 seconds for every 10 kilometers of road.

“The problem with traffic is not just at present. This is a decade-old problem,” acting MMDA Chairman Romando Artes said. 

The travel time increased by 50 seconds compared to data in 2022, TomTom noted, making it the slowest in the world.

The TomTom Traffic Index 2023 “use(d) a representative sample of this data,” referring to so-called “floating car data… spanning 551-billion (kilometers),” to assess and show how traffic has evolved in cities around the globe throughout 2023.

In a press briefing at the MMDA headquarters in Pasig City yesterday, Artes said the agency would like to “clarify” with TomTom the basis of its findings, noting that the agency has no idea of the methodology used for the 2023 Traffic Index.

“We want to seek clarification so we could understand and compare our data,” he said.

Motorists should consider a lot of factors for the worsening road congestion in Metro Manila such as the ballooning volume of cars using major roads, poor infrastructure, road repairs and even the drivers’ lack of discipline and disregard of traffic laws, according to Artes.

He also included the suspension of the controversial no-contact apprehension policy, which uses closed-circuit television cameras to catch erring motorists, as a cause of traffic jams in the metropolis.

While Artes recognized that road congestion has become a “decade-old problem,” he insisted that the government has been studying all means to prevent traffic jams from worsening and to eventually lessen them.

Aside from traffic discipline, the government believes more infrastructure and mass transport projects and the decongestion of Metro Manila can help solve the traffic woes.

Artes said that the government is studying if the elevated U-turn slots at a portion of C-5 should be removed and instead an underpass, which he said was the original plan, be built.

He said the government also plans to build six new bridges across the Pasig River.