Part One
STUDIES conducted in the last decade showed that on-street parking in Metro Manila is not properly monitored and apprehended, despite having an illegal-parking law implemented since 1964.
Vehicle owners simply park their cars along streets—even on busy highways and secondary roads—causing a backlog along a street whose traffic should have been moving freely.
According to a study by civil engineers Marc Lim, Eriko Luis Hallare and Jesus Briones, on-street parking “slows down and impedes vehicles, and disrupts the flow of traffic, especially when vehicles are maneuvering in and out of the curb.”
However, “when on-street parking is properly designed, properly regulated and properly incorporated in the estimation of road capacity with the use of an equation model, this could lessen the disruption caused by the
on-street parking to the flow of traffic,” the authors said in their study in 2012, which was presented in Bangkok, Thailand.
The authors concluded that on-street parking, as well as the maneuvering of vehicles in and out of an on-street parking, “prolongs the travel time of moving vehicles whether they be parallel or angled to the curb.”
There are laws in place with regard to parking. For one, Republic Act 4136, or the law that lists relative land transport and traffic rules, stipulates that parking is prohibited in specific places.
“No driver shall park a vehicle, or permit it to stand, whether attended or unattended, upon a highway in any of the following places: within an intersection; on a crosswalk; within 6 meters of the intersection of curb lines; within 4 meters of the driveway entrance to fire station; within 4 meters of fire hydrant; in front of a private driveway; on the roadway side of any
vehicle stopped or parked at the curb or edge of the highway; and at any place where official signs have been erected prohibiting parking,” the
law read.
According to the Land Transportation Office (LTO), the fine for illegal parking is a mere P200.
Transportation Spokesman Cherie Mercado-Santos said her camp would like to implement traffic rules—specifically parking laws and memos—especially on national roads and major choke points.
“We want a stricter implementation of the ‘no parking rule’ on major thoroughfares and identified Mabuhay lanes,” she said in a text message to the BusinessMirror.
Santos added that the transportation department is trying its best to implement this rule under the newly formed Interagency Council on Traffic, which has been apprehending motorists who have parked illegally since its formation last month.
“Right now, with the Interagency Council on Traffic, enforcers apprehend 70 to 80 illegally parked vehicles per day,” she said.
The traffic-management body is composed of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA), Highway Patrol Group (HPG), Land Transportation
Office (LTO) and the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB).
Transportation Secretary
Arthur P. Tugade said his camp decided to move the impounding facility to Cavite from Quezon City to decongest the LTO’s on East Avenue.
“On the average, we have 60 to 70 vehicles illegally parked. Do the math,” he said. “The one who caused inconvenience is not entitled to convenience.”
Lawmakers have been pushing for a “no garage, no parking” legislation since the time of President Aquino, but it has yet to be discussed in the 17th Congress.
Under the proposed bill, patterned after similar models in congested cities like India and Japan, people seeking to buy a car or two will have to show proof that they have a sufficient parking space before being allowed purchase.
With the Philippine economy growing annually at 6 percent, consumers now have more money to spare on cars. In 2015 alone, there were 300,000 new vehicles that hit the road in 2015.
Data from the Chamber of
Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc. showed that car sales during the first six months of 2016 reached 167,481 units, about 36,000 units higher than the year prior.
Car sales, according to the
automotive group, will grow to 370,000 by year-end.
According to Uber Manila General Manager Laurence Cua, one of the short-term solutions to the chronic traffic congestion in Metro Manila is to limit the number of cars on the roads. He advocated the use of ride sharing to reduce the number of cars along the cities’ arteries.
Losses from traffic congestion in Metro Manila alone is at P2.4 billion per day since 2014, according to a study conducted by the Japan International Cooperation Agency. The amount is expected to balloon to a whopping P6 billion daily should the sorry traffic situation continue to persist through 2030.
To be continued
Image credits: Roy Domingo