Transport in Manila
Traffic is one of the major problems of the metropolis. According to the Philippine Daily Inquirer, of October 10, 1989, "the trouble with traffic is that you have 40 percent of all vehicles in this country in Metro Manila with a terrific concentration in the business-commercial district." And the paper notes in its issue of January 5, 1990, that "for about 5.5 million daily commuters in Metro Manila and an additional two million migrant workers from nearby provinces, getting rides on scarce buses and jeepneys is a daily ordeal. Eight years ago, it took an average of only 30 minutes for a commuter to get a ride during the rush hours. According to a survey of the Department of Tansportation and Communication, it now takes one hour to two hours for a commuter to get a ride." Senator Victor Ziga once observed that "helpless thousand of commuters from all sectors were stranded for hours, unable to get rides, spilling into the already narrow thoroughfares jostling each other to cling to already full buses and jeepneys as if clinging to life itself."
The source of the problem is possibly a sharp decline in the number of public utility vehicles and at the same time an increased population and a higher flexibility of the inhabitants of Metro Manila. According to the Philippine Daily Inquirer of January 5, 1990, "the past year saw three big bus companies, in a span of three months, close shop because of rising operational costs and labor problems. Transport officials have cited low returns as the principal cause of the decline in bus units from 5,000 in 1981 to the present 2,000 units."
The figures mentioned are hard to confirm. Other sources estimate that there are approximately l00,000 public utility vehicles plying the 3,152km of roads in Metro Manila. They are 3,900 buses, 36,000 taxis, 21,900 jeepneys and 40,000 colorum jeepneys. (A colorum jeepney is not registered as a public utility vehicle.)
To alleviate the problem of transportation, the Metro Manila Transit Corpora-tion fielded its buses plying EDSA Baclaran route with trailers. There are approximately 20 56 seater trailers which are attached to the regular buses by heavy-duty anchor reinforced chains. They are intended to be used regularly during peak hours from 6:00 to 9:00 and from 16:00 to 19:00 and only pick up or discharge passengers at selected points.a number of other bus companies including Fil-Transit, Metro Bus and JAM have fielded air-con buses according to Savvy in the Daily Globe of May 26, 1990. He also comments that the "Love Buses have deteriorated".and are "more expensive than the new aircon buses."
While the problem of the to small number of public utility vehicles to serve the riding public in the city may probably be solved soon by adding more buses, the problem of traffic congestion plaguing the city streets and by-ways will apparently still stay for a long time. This perennial problem of traffic jams is brought about by several factors like the design of the city roads which, aside from being bumpy, have many intersections (approximately one intersection for every 200 meters). Con-tributing to the traffic problem are corrupt policemen, undisciplined pedestrians and drivers and some 22,300 sidewalk vendors in Metro Manila, as well as a lack of capillaries which could act as alternative routes. One particular traffic problem in Metro Manila is air pollution from vehicles. It seems that it's not mainly the number of vehicles aggravating this problem but the condition of the vehicles; many are not only old but also do not have their engines adjusted properly which makes them terrible smoke belchers (and increases their operation costs). The authorities have started several times a drive against smoke belchers but a result can hardly be noticed.
Anyway, at least the campaign seems to help fill up the city coffers: "Despite the reported irregularities that plagued the government's anti-smoke-belching campaign in Metro Manila, the authorities managed to apprehend 5,492 smoke-belching vehicles and collected P950,000 in fines for the month of August alone, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources said... Since the campaign was intensified in June, Dayrit said, 13,568 smoke-belching vehicles have been apprehended compared to 3,914 from January to May 1989. Total for 1989 stands at 17,482 while collection in fines now total P3.5 million" (Daily Globe, September 9, 1989)
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