Commonwealth Avenue “Killer Highway”

The Commonwealth Avenue has been tagged as “The Killer Highway” for quite some time because of the greatest number of road crashes among motorists as well as pedestrians resulting to remarkable number of deaths that happen along this corridor. 24 January 2010 Monday, however, marked the start of the MMDA campaign to introduce some traffic regulations and monitoring to improve and lessen the number of road accidents in Commonwealth Avenue.

Prior to the campaign, Commonwealth Avenue is a 9-lane wide and very long stretch of corridor where vehicles are free to move, swerve, and travel at desired speeds. There were few designated bus/jeepney stops, pedestrian overpass, and several u-turn slots which were not strictly followed by road users. Notable accidents that have occured involved motorcycles, buses, private cars and jaywalkers run over by vehicles. It is important to note that the high occurence of road accidents here may be due to lack of traffic regulations and monitoring on the part of concerned government agencies, lack of discipline among motorists, inadeaquacy in the physical design and signages of the road, and several other factors.

The MMDA, this week, introduced several changes both in the physical design and traffic regulation, monitoring and management. The physical improvements include a yellow lane on the two outermost lanes designated for PUVs/PUJs, the five middle lanes are for private cars and the two innermost lanes will be used to access the U-turn slots. A speed limit of 60kph was also imposed for the motorists. Several traffic enforcers using speed guns were assigned at certain parts of the corridor to monitor and apprehend overspeeding motorists.

It is hoped that through these improvements the Commonwealth Avenue will no longer be tagged as the killer highway. Yet better and safer road environment will only be achieved when the motorists comply and whole-heartedly follow the traffic rules and regulations, the MMDA, with utmost integrity, would maintain good physical design with adequate signages and continue in its traffic monitoring and implementation, and the pedestrians will only use the pedestrian overpass in crossing the highway. Assessments should also be done six months or a year after the implementation to measure the effectiveness of the changes introduced.

Would the improvements really change the nickname, “killer highway,” to something like “safest highway”? It is surely worth noting in the future what Commonwealth Avenue had become when all stakeholders actively have taken part to make it better and safer road corridor. Till the next post on Commonwealth Avenue!

Talking About Public Transport

The following text is a conversation between engineer-einjel and her friend (codename), Love.

engineer-einjel:

i heard PNoy will be there.. i hope so! i'm thinking if may be i could tell him na tama lang ang pgtaas ng mrt fare,haha!

Love:

pero dear, if tataas ang MRT, matutuwa ang mga buses natin. sana lang mayroong gawin sa klase ng services ng mga buses natin dahil malamang dito lilipat ang mga taong nagtitipid dahil na nga sa taas ng MRT. kawawa na naman ang mga Pilipino. dapat dagdagan pa ng infrastructure ang bansa natin para hindi tayo mapunta sa hinding magandang service ng mga buses (i.e. dumugan, halos mag-iisang oras sa bandang Ortigas para lang kumuha ng mga pasahero, kumusta naman ang konsepto ng travel time at kung may work ka diba?) Hay dear, i vote for you for the future MMDA chair.

engineer-einjel:

hahahaha! nakakatawa o tuwa yung last statement mo. thanks! i like the way you think, it shows your concern on public transport.

Re increase in fare sa mrt, what i've read is hindi naman daw mas mataas sa bus fare (magiging 30 ata yung dating 15) para nga hindi mgshift to bus ang karamihan sa mrt passengers. tsaka yung expected increase in revenues will be used to buy more cars to increase the capacity of mrt and to improve it. mrt is still more efficient mode of transport than the EDSA buses considering pollution, travel time, etc. yeah, i agree with your idea that there's a need to add more infra but this would require funds (kung sana yung huge amount of money from let's say, the MVUC or motor vehicle user's charge will be used properly) and this should also be coupled with road users' (pasahero man o driver) whole-heart-and-mind compliance with the traffic rules and regulations. for more or less 2years already, mayroong OBR o organized bus route project ang MMDA to address the issues with regard to buses plying EDSA. Sadly, I don't know what happened kasi parang wala namang naimprove sa dati.. so, saan napunta yung milyong milyong budget for that? maraming projects pero sana naiimplement nang mabuti. assessments on the impacts of supposedly improvement projects should always done and policy changes or adjustments to maximize benefits should also be put up when necessary.

haha, essay na ang haba nito. gusto ko ng ganitong discussions! :))

Love:

hay, hindi sa pagiging righteous at feelingera, pero when i arrived last July, sinubukan kong sumakay sa tamang sakayan, bumaba sa tamang babaan at mag-abang sa tamang abangan. Wlang konsepto ng stops ang Metro manila so hindi maimprove-improve ang traffic condition. Walang konsepto ng urban planning. mga bahay nasa tabi ng mga kalsada, maliit ang kalsada, walang masyadong flyovers, ---- (see, I'm bitching about the negatives of our country, boohhh!)

Bawasan ang mga bus sa EDSA. kahit magsiksikan ang mga pasahero basta makarating sila ng mabilis sa bahay nila diba? atleast nakauwi agad, atleast hindi na magtatagal pa sa mga bus na sugapang yan. Bawal ang long waiting sa mga areas na matao tulad ng Ortigas, Makati, Shaw, kasi more than 3 hours ang pagtravel from Fairview to Pasay, ang lapit-lapit lang niya kung tutuusin.

Bawasan ang prangkisa ng mga FX, at jeep. bawasan na silang mga jeep bilang andami nila at hindi rin sila humihinto sa tamang stops.

Hearts siya, so mahirap iimplement? Pwede mong i-broadcast sa buong Pilipinas using TV Patrol or saksi or mga radyo sa bus or FX ang mga bagong ruta at bus stops kung saan lang pwedeng bumaba at sumakay ang mga tao. Pag alam ng mga tao - driver, pasahero, mga ibang private vehicles ang stop - pagagalitan ng bawat isa ang hindi sumunod. sa panahon natin kung kelan andaming tao sa Pilipinas at kung kelan umiiral ang ganitong uri ng mga services, at kung saan ang media ay mas mataas pa ang autoridad sa kinauukulan, i.e. national govt, parang mas maganda na lang maging SOCIALIST at hindi na DEMOKRASYA. Democracy does not work for us.

hay, angas! daming bitterness! haha.

engineer-einjel:

Love, nasaan ang puso mo? hahaha!
-- actually, merong urban planning but transport planning came after it. these two should go hand in hand kasi. hindi puedeng you put up land developments then saka mo nalang isipin yung traffic implications and travel demands nito. yet eto ang nangyari sa city kaya wala ng space for expansion ang mga roads. but it should be noted too that road widening or creating another overpass is not always the answer to our traffic probs coz there will come a time na mapupuno rin ito. i believe the gov't should develop a reliable mass transit system (trains or the cheaper one - bus rapid transit) for everyone and this will significantly reduce traffic probs.
-- OBR also aims to reduce the number of buses plying along EDSA and to reduce waiting time in the bus stops. merong RFID tags ang buses that will automatically apprehend them pag ngexceed sila sa set waiting time. i just don't know kung hanggang ngayon ay pinapatupad (na dapat naman ay pinapatupad pa).
-- regulated naman ang pgapprove ng franchise for public transport vehicles. sadly, yung pghinto ng jeep kung saan saan has become norm for the people. jeepney's lane changing behavior creates chaos to an already problematic city roads. we can't simply remove jeepneys, etc.. but i can still see hope somehow that this will be improved in the future. may be it takes a lot of will power among all people haha.
-- to use the power of media in educating the people regarding traffic rules and regulations is actually a good idea. i just don't know how we could start with that.. any more ideas? :) but to argue between socialist and democracy is another thing. haha
-- i think bitterness is better than apathy to the existing road congestion issues. once there are things that you don't want then you can move on to thinking on how you can improve the bad things. thanks! :))

Love:

ahahaha. :) iisip pa ko ng isasagot, parang nasabi ko na rin ang gusto kong sabihin eh.

ahhaha.

tama na may mass transport system to be set by the govt. with our democratic system, pati ang transportation system, nasa private institution which is mahirap namang pakiusapang sumunod sa tamang rules. mas mahirap ang magregulate simply because hindi naman ganun ka-strict ang mga implementing officers. much better if it starts with the bus drivers themselves. mangyayari lng 'yan kung hindi na private ang humahawak. gusto ko i-discuss pano ang democracy in terms of mass transport system blah blah. i know it worked for the western countries but our culture seems hard to change at this point that this kind of democracy would not work for us. wehe. ito na yata ang pinakamahabang discussion na nagawa natin. na-miss na kita. kwentuhan tayo minsan. :D

engineer-einjel:

yeah, haba nga.. magandang pguusap 'to when we meet. see ya! :)

Love:

sa china dear, alam mo, every bus route should only take you an hour lang. so u can expect that the longest hour you'd stay inside a bus is just an hour. kahit paputol-putol ang pagsakay mo, ok lng diba? hindi 'yung tulad sa'ten, Fairview to Pasay lng ang choice mong sakyan kaya wala kang magawa kung magtagal man ang mga bus sa kalsada. hayz. kelan kaya un dito dear?

engineer-einjel:

oh, nice.. it may take years for us but i believe as long as there are dedicated people (my profs and other good leaders in the transport sector) working toward acquiring efficient and safe roads as well as orderly environment then it will be realized.. umaasa ako na mababago pa ang mga ayaw natin. it started with the hope that is in those dedicated people.. :)

New MMDA Chairman

Former Quezon City Judge Oscar Inocentes have taken over Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) Chair post. He presided following the order by Malacanang dated December 1.

Though there were side comments regarding this story since former MMDA Chair Bayani Fernando have not yet submitted his resignation letter when Inocentes went to the MMDA Office and assumed his post. Bayani Fernando is now among the Vice President aspirants in the coming 2010 national elections.

Reports have quoted Inocentes saying that he will finish the ongoing projects of MMDA and reevaluate existing and future projects. Moreover, he will do more talk (that is, to engage illegal vendors along sidewalks into dialogues before any forceful eviction) and lesser force in implementing rules.

The public hopes that the newly appointed MMDA Chair would do his job excellently not forgetting that there are engineering principles and studies to solve Metro Manila's problem on traffic congestion.

C5 - Kalayaan Elevated U-turns

Circumferential Road 5 (C5) is one of the major circumferential roads in Metro Manila and it connects the South Luzon Expressway in Taguig City to the north end of C5, the McArthur Highway in Valenzuela City and the North Luzon Expressway. Moreover, the C5-Kalayaan Avenue intersection is strategically located in the boundaries of Taguig City, Makati City, Pateros, and Pasig City which makes the said intersection congested especially during peak hours.

The interchange configuration proposed by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) for upgrade of the C5-Kalayaan Avenue intersection was an underpass that would serve through traffic along C5. The underpass scheme is part of the two grade separation infrastructures: the C5-Kalayaan underpass and C5-Vargas-Lanuza overpass that cost P512-million. Consulting services for the construction supervision of this interchange projects had been awarded to private engineering firms in 2002 and detailed designs were already completed for implementation in 2004.

The Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA), however, submitted counterproposals to construct two (2) U-turn flyovers along C5 instead of the proposed underpass at C5-Kalayaan and the retention of the U-turn scheme at C5-Vargas and C5-Lanuza. This P350-million worth project was favored than the earlier DPWH’s plans. Construction of Phase I (Taguig side) commenced in February 14, 2008 and was completed on August 1, 2008; while Phase II (Pasig side) was started on December 2, 2008 and completed on April 17, 2009. Last May 6, 2009, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo inaugurated the twin elevated U-turns in C5. MMDA Chairman Bayani Fernando led the formal presentation of the finished project....

**This is part of the introduction of a practical paper entitled Elevated U-turns in Metro Manila (written by Macababbad, Sigua, and Po) submitted for presentation in the 2009 EASTS Conference. To read more about this article, feel free to contact the admin of this blog or you can post comments and give your email address then the admin will contact you.

**To view photos of the elevated u-turns, click this Philippine Transportation Photos.

Traffic Signs

Are you a true motorist? Then you should know by heart the different traffic or road signs. These signs are posted at the sides of roads to provide information and guide motorists.

Most traffic signs in the Philippines follow the Vienna Convention except for the MMDA's pink colored road signs.

So, what are the different traffic signs?

Regulatory Signs

1. Stop


2. Yield


3. Speed Limit


4. No right/left turn


5. No U-turn


6. Right/Left turn or Straight through only


7. Bus Lane


8. Bike Lane


9. Do NOT Enter


10. No Tricycles/ Pedicab

Warning Signs

1. Turn/Curve Ahead


2. Intersection


3. Pavement condition


4. Railroad/Light Rail


5. Speed Humps

Guide Signs

1. Destination and Distance


2. Expressway


3. Road Work Information

It is important to know and understand what these signs mean for your safety.

**To view some traffic signs, click PICTURES OF ROAD TRAFFIC SIGNS.

Traffic Management

"Traffic management is a term used to embody the activities undertaken by a highway transportation agency to improve roadway system safety, efficiency, and effectiveness for both providers and consumers of transportation services. There are two distinct types of traffic management. The first one utilizes traditional traffic engineering tools or simple devices to regulate or control traffic. The second relies more on advanced technology through the use of Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS)." (Sigua, 2008)

In the Philippines, there are several government agencies which deal with traffic management. These agencies include the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA), Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC), Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), Traffic Engine­ering Center, Philip­pine Na­tional Police-Traffic Management Group, and the Land Transportation Office. According to Lidasan as mentioned in a news report, poor coordination among government agencies occur since their functions and responsibilities often overlap. Moreover, even if policy making and implementation or enforcement are assigned to specific agencies, these organizations usually disregard or bypass one another in the performance of their functions. The following paragraphs further identify the key roles of the different agencies for an effective traffic management.

MMDA’s role is primarily to coordinate and integrate the efforts of local governments and the central government in drawing up policies and plans and implementing transport projects within Metro Manila. The responsibility for road construction and maintenance is divided between DPWH for national roads and LGUs for local roads. The DPWH Traffic Engineering Center has taken the responsibility for road planning that requires traffic engineering. DOTC is in charge of regulating vehicle fleet and driver licensing through its Land Transportation Office. The Land Transportation Franchising Regulatory Board regulates public transport services and fares. DOTC also plans the extensions to Metro Manila’s rail systems through the Light Rail Transit Authority (LRTA) and the Philippine National Railways.

Responsibilities for traffic management, however, should not just be relied upon the government agencies but a collaborative effort among the policy makers, implementors as well as the ordinary people - even children in grade school to senior citizens. Every citizen has to be educated about road traffic safety rules and signs. Rep. Narciso D. Santiago III has filed House Bill 4745 which aims to have a separate subject integrated in the grade school and high school curricula that includes the teaching of road traffic safety rules and signs since young people are the easiest to train.



Sources:

• Fundamentals of Traffic Engineering, Sigua, R., University of the Philippines Press 2008

• Institutional bottleneck slows down response to traffic problem. November 12, 2002. Manila Times (http://www.manilatimes.net/others/special/2002/nov/12/20021112spe1.html)
• Road traffic safety rules and signs to be taught in school. August 17, 2008. (http://www.gov.ph/news/default.asp?i=21908)