LAND TRANSPORTATION
TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT
PLAN
1. Impose a total
ban on parking by all types of vehicles along all national public roads
24/7, except in cases of emergency and government sponsored or recognized
social events, to maximize the use of the existing national road network for
land transportation rather than for vehicle parking.
2. Impose a partial
ban on parking by all types of vehicles along all local public roads
16/7, except from 10pm to 6am daily, during non-working legal holidays, in
cases of emergency and government sponsored or recognized social events, to
maximize the use of the existing local road network for land transportation
rather than for vehicle parking.
3. Impose an outer
lane rule on all motorcycles and similar type of vehicles applicable
to all national and local public roads 24/7, subject to reasonable
exceptions depending on actual traffic conditions, where the said vehicles are
required to use only the outer half of the singular lane or outermost lane, to
avoid the existing dangerous situation where motorcycles criss-cross other
motor vehicles while all are in motion.
4. Pending the
gradual phase-out and refleeting of all public utility tricycles, impose a total
ban on tricycles along all national public roads 24/7 except to
cross said roads, to avoid the existing situation where slow-moving tricyles
slow down the entire traffic flow by occupying the center part of the lane and
preventing vehicles in the rear from overtaking.
5. Pending the
gradual phase-out and refleeting of all public utility tricycles, impose an outer
lane rule on all tricycles along all local public roads 24/7,
where the said vehicles are required to use only the outer half of the singular
lane or outermost lane, to avoid the existing situation where slow-moving
tricyles slow down the entire traffic flow by occupying the center part of the
lane and preventing vehicles in the rear from overtaking.
6. Impose a loading
and unloading rule designating limited stops for loading and unloading
passengers by all public utility buses, jeepneys, FX, vans and multicabs,
along all national and local public roads 24/7.
7. Remove all unauthorized
structures, constructions and obstructions along all national and local
public roads, to maximize the use of the existing national and local public
road networks.
8. Give first priority to the repair and
maintenance of the existing public road networks, and the restoration
and rebuilding of the dilapidated public roadworks such as shoulders,
sidewalks, culverts and aqueducts, and the widening of intersections of
the existing road networks, to maximize the use of limited public funds
allocated for infrastructure by maximizing the use of the existing national and
local public road networks;
second priority
to the construction of new national and local road networks in conflict
areas where armed rebels are known to operate, to the full extent
practicable, taking into consideration the safety and security of the
construction personnel and equipment; and
last priority
to the widening of the existing road networks apart from the
intersections, including the construction of flyovers, skyways or tunnels,
unless the project is financed by the private sector under a public-private
partnership which may proceed immediately without regard to this priority
scheme.
9. Give first
priority to the repair and maintenance of tracks and carriages of
the existing railway system, second priority to the acquisition of
additional carriages for the existing railway system, and third priority to new
rail and carriage systems, to maximize the use of limited public funds for
infrastructure, by maximizing the use of the existing rail and carriage
systems.
10. Replace the
existing bus system with the bus rail transit (BRT) system, starting
with EDSA and progressing to the smaller national roads after, to maximize the
use of the existing national public road networks. Along EDSA, the BRT shall
use the innermost lane adjoining the Metropolitan Rail Transit (MRT), and use
the same stations of the MRT for loading and unloading passengers, after the
stations are expanded to accommodate the additional flow of passengers from the
BRT. The BRT system may be pursued under the public-private-partnership
concept. The existing bus operators may be granted reasonable opportunity to
merge or consolidate under a single entity and bid for the BRT system.
11. Phase-out and refleet
all the existing public utility tricycles with multicabs, for faster
transportation and more efficient use of road space. The phase-out shall not
exceed three (3) years which is the minimum period to fully depreciate a new
tricycle unit or to earn a return of investment in such unit. The refleeting
may be pursued under public-private-partnership concept, where the proponent
will buy all the public utility tricycles offered for sale, and sell or
exchange the multicabs to the tricycle operators.
12. Phase-out and refleet
all the existing public utility jeepneys with multicabs, vans and FX,
for faster transportation and more efficient use of road space. The phase-out
shall not exceed three (3) years which is the minimum period to fully
depreciate a new jeepney or to earn a return of investment in such unit. The
refleeting may be pursued under public-private-partnership concept, where the
proponent will buy all the public utility jeepneys offered for sale, and sell
or exchange the multicabs, vans and FX to the jeepney operators.
13. Impose a total
ban along all national and local public roads 24/7, and/or deny or
cancel the registration of all private and public motor vehicles, except
heavy equipment and military vehicles, and after a grace of not more than three
(3) years, that are incapable of a cruising speed of at least 60 kilometers
per hour, to avoid the proliferation of slow moving vehicles along public
road networks that slow down the ideal average flow of traffic. The grace period shall not exceed three (3) years
which is the minimum period to fully depreciate a new motor vehicle.
14. Regulate
the design and build of new vans and jeeps to comply with the standard
specifications of the multicab, vans and FX, to avoid the
proliferation of underpowered, oversized, and slow-moving vehicles with large
turning circles, that ordinarily cause traffic along public roads.
15. Prohibit
the rebuild or remanufacture of old vans and jeeps in a manner that substantially
deviates from the standard specifications of the multicab, vans and FX,
unless specific authority for justifiable purposes is secured from the
department of transportation and the department of trade and industry, to avoid
the proliferation of underpowered, oversized, and slow-moving vehicles with
large turning circles, that ordinarily cause traffic along public roads.
16. Consolidate
the various private terminals for buses, jeepneys, FX, vans and
multicabs under a single land transportation terminal at a designated
entry and exit point for a specific area, with smaller satellite terminals for
short routes within the metropolis, city or municipality, to avoid the existing
chaotic scheme where each public utility bus operator is authorized to operate
its own bus terminal located virtually at random within highly populated areas,
and where groups of public utility jeepneys without legal authority take
control of substantial parts of the existing national or local public roads
usually at or near intersection areas for use jeepney terminals. The land
transportation terminal may be pursued under the public-private-partnership
concept. The existing public utility operators may be granted reasonable
opportunity to merge or consolidate under a single entity and bid for the land
transportation terminals.
17. Integrate or
link by convenient access the land transportation terminals with the
existing seaports and airports, to maximise the use of all public ports
by facilitating the transfer of passengers or cargo from one port to another.
18. Establish
a traffic management council at the national, regional, metropolitan,
city and municipality levels excluding the provincial and barangay levels,
because the city and municipality cover the entire country without any overlap
in local jurisdiction, the province is ordinarily too large while the barangay
is usually too small to manage local traffic problems, and the city and
municipal governments are most efficient if not burdened with turf issues in
relation to the mother province or component barangay. Traffic problems involving
adjoining cities and municipalities are then more effectively addressed at the
metropolitan, regional and national levels.
The traffic
management council at the national and regional levels shall be comprised of
representatives from the department of transportation, department of public
works and highways, department of trade and industry, department of interior
and local government, land transportation office, land transportation and
franchising regulatory board, toll regulatory board, philippine national police
and other agencies with land transportation traffic related functions. At the
metropolitan, city and municipal levels, the council shall be comprised of all
the foregoing, plus all the mayors or the mayor concerned.
The representative of
the department of transportation shall be the ex-officio chair of the council
at the national level, the head of the regional authority if any at the
regional level, the head of the metropolitan authority if any at the
metropolitan level, and the head of the Metropolitan Manila Development
Authority (MMDA) for Metro Manila. The mayor shal be the ex-officio chair of
the council at the city or municipal level.
19. Centralize
with the national government through the traffic management council, the traffic
management over all national public roads and adjoining local public
roads, because the use of national roads is a matter of national interest that
overrides local interest. Traffic management shall include but not be limited
to the number coding scheme (that bans travel by motor vehicles
according to its plate number) and the truck ban scheme (that bans
travel by trucks during specified hours of the day and during specified days of
the week), to avoid the existing chaotic scheme where each local government unit
is autonomous in imposing its own number coding and truck ban regardless of
traffic implications that go beyond its territorial jurisdiction.
20. Franchise
the deployment and use of public utility watercraft within inland and
coastal waters, to complement the public utility vehicles that ply the
existing national and local road networks, in providing faster but safer public
transportation.
The
material was written ex-gratia by Demosthenes B. Donato for the
We Citizen
Advocates for Reforms Movement (We Care), Inc.
(Kilusan ng Mamamayang Nagmamalasakit sa Bayan).
All
intellectual property rights are granted to the public domain.
Makati
City, Philippines. 14 May 2016.
