Working on the railroad

It is said that if you find something you love doing, then you will never work a day in your life.

Yesterday was one of those days when I found something I love to do (or it found me) which is being a moderator for a business conference. On top of that, I got to work up the discussion with industry related participants where we listened to a panel of speakers talk about something we all want and seriously need in this country: Rail & Road.

In a country that was one of the first to have a tram system in Asia as well as decent railways, we now find ourselves with an almost non-existent railway system, dilapidated roads such as EDSA, a mega city that qualifies more as a parking lot than a functioning metropolis and citizens who in the words of “Heneral Luna” are “like virgins still believing in the promises of prostitutes.” Yes, we still hope for the best in the face of the worst ever state of affairs there has ever been for Rail and Road in the Philippines.

Ironically, people from the international community, designers and engineers as well as project developers and packagers, see more than a silver lining. They tell us to lay claim to a gold mine of possibilities and opportunities to develop, package and promote Rail and Road projects.

Speaking to a ballroom full of bankers, engineers, builders and developers, Mr. Fergal Whyte, director and East Asia transport market leader for ARUP, encouraged the participants to give Rail and Road projects a closer and determined look in terms of possibilities and investments because the Philippines enjoys such a good international standing and is being watched by global investors.

What would help in getting the investments into the country is for the government to seriously incorporate “foreign investments” into their program as much as they support the small group of top corporations that are actually reaching their limits in terms of manageable number of projects and available funds and credit lines. The local big players can only play in so many “games” and once they start  “picking and choosing,” many opportunities and needs will be dropped or wasted along the way and will delay development.

Whether it is Rail or Road, the various speakers pointed out that there are tons of opportunities. Instead of being Metro Manila-centric, government, project developers and investors should start looking towards “on the ground” connectivity of islands and provinces considering the fact that our entire highways network covers 81 provinces and the development, budgets and maintenance (a system where good roads are dug up and reconstructed every two or four years before elections!) is “managed” by 18 regions.

According to David Pegg, who spoke on the Future of Highways, interconnectivity of highways is vital because this is a transformative action that makes transport and mobility efficient and gives businesses and communities choices in their modes or means of movement. People or companies can relocate without being dislocated because of distance or island separation.

Pegg also shared that a unified or single authority in charge of development and construction of new highways would certainly streamline the conceptualization, validation, and actual bidding and construction of projects. Making one kingdom instead of many would also remove the unattractive “red tape” that eats up cash in terms of cost of money, initial investments for studies, manpower and unproductive pitching period.

During the presentation and Q&A, it was shown that 50% to 75% of commuters in Metro Manila rely on public transport. The numbers are there but the transport system is way behind. So opportunities are clearly available in terms of alternative transport whether it’s Bus Rapid Transit, Uber,  bike rental stations, pollution free electric tricycles or a  commuter guidance system for public transport similar to WAZE which is called Beeline and is being studied currently in Singapore. Our local IT wizards can certainly come up with similar apps but with a Pinoy twist.

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For the future of Rail in the Philippines, Timothy Suen said it is good news – bad news scenario. Our Mega City has a population of 11.9 million if not more but we only have a total Metro length of rail of 50.4 km, and planning to expand to 100 kilometers. Bangkok has 8 million people, has 86 kilometers of Metro railways and planning to have 508 km by 2029. Shanghai with a population of 24 million has 538 kilometers of railways and gunning for 877 km in 2020.

The picture gets rosier for potential investors and government because there is a critical need for mass transit around Metro Manila as well as going out of Metro Manila and that is an opportunity in the bag. If we are to decongest Metro Manila, whether it’s our ports or our roadways such as EDSA, we must urgently and seriously promote railway systems as THE ONLY real solution. By investing on Rail, we will slowly but surely reach the turning point where inefficient transport systems such as buses, jeepneys and UV Express vehicles will be reduced and rationalized to becoming a support system and not the primary but insufficient and inefficient mode of conveyance. Many drivers and commuters no longer challenge costs and charges for tollways because Filipinos realize that their time is much more valuable as well as their convenience.

Instead of fighting over common stations or positioning for advantage, the new thought would be partnerships or joint ventures that would allow businessmen and corporations to build bigger and better and not have to over extend themselves and /or limit themselves to a number of projects. Another concept being studied abroad is utilizing railway “airspace” for commercial developments. As long as the government imposes strict rules and monitoring, the concept could be a useful tool for right of way negotiations as well as income or service opportunity for rentals or housing.

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If opportunities are there, Gaurav Ahuja who is the “Transaction Advice Leader” in East Asia for Arup, spoke positively about “PPP” or the Public-Private Partnership programs around the world and how this can be correctly and efficiently utilized to study, package and promote government projects so that private sector investments can come in as they do worldwide.

There was still so much that the speakers talked about and lots of questions that were raised, but from where I stood, I really appreciated that Arup Philippines, led by Raul Manlapig, hosted the event in order to stimulate discussion, learning and exchange of views all aimed at encouraging the private sector to not just moan about being stuck in traffic for two to three hours just to get to the conference but to actually do something about it.

My personal take away was: If we want something – We must ask for it! We can’t just wish we had better roads, more railways, etc. Wishing ends when you blow out the candles. Asking for it starts the process.

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