SUSTAINABLE transportation development requires investments in nonroad mass-transit systems—such as railways, ferries and bus rapid transit—to address the ever-growing congestion problem in Metro Manila.
“Our challenge is creating sustainable public transportation at a time when humanity is opening its eyes to the ill effects of fossil fuels on the environment and our health; to the finite quality of conventional sources of energy; to the susceptibility of our countries to the capriciousness of nature and natural disasters,” Transportation Secretary Joseph Emilio A. Abaya said.
Manila is facing a greater challenge than its neighbors in terms of modernizing its public-transportation systems, the Cabinet official noted.
It ranked as the 95th in the 2014-2015 Global Competitiveness Report of the World Economic Forum in terms of overall transport infrastructure quality.
“Sustainable transportation development requires drastic action to reduce traffic congestion on our roads, as well as the adoption of alternative fuels to power our vehicles,” he said.
But the government, Abaya quickly added, must also give the public a better commuting alternative to road-based transportation.
“One essential strategy for sustainable transportation development in the coming years is to invest in nonroad-based mass-transport systems, such as railways, which are still the most efficient; water-based options, such as river ferries; and the relatively newer BRTs,” he said, referring to the bus rapid-transit system.
Currently, there are four railway systems in the country—the Light Rail Transit (LRT) Lines 1 and 2, the Metro Rail Transit (MRT) Line 3 and the Philippine National Railways (PNR). Most of these train lines are operating at overcapacity, and are in dire need of rehabilitation.
The government has been rolling out P9.7 billion worth of projects to upgrade the services of the MRT 3 that serves commuters on Metro Manila’s busiest thoroughfare, Epifanio de los Santos Avenue. It also recently signed the contract to develop and extend the LRT 1 to Cavite with Metro Pacific Investments Corp. and Ayala Corp.
The government is also planning the extension of LRT 2 to Antipolo in the east, and the port area in Manila to the west. As for the PNR, it plans to develop its services all the way to Sorsogon.
The government is also planning to develop a ferry system that will operate on Pasig River to provide an alternative means of transportation for passengers within Metro Manila, much like in Bangkok.
The BRT projects are also all lined up. The first one to be developed is the system in Cebu, the next one is in Manila, and the other one will be in Davao.
These have all been planned, with some already being implemented. Most are still gathering dust.