Heavy Traffic: Reasons and Solutions

Ever since I was a child, my ultimate wish was to learn how to drive. And when, finally, I learned how to drive and became the head driver of the family, I regret that I even pursued learning this skill. Why? Traffic here in the Philippines is just everywhere.

Every time we experience this kind of dilemma, which is every day, we tend to blame others. We blame the government agencies, the malls or schools nearby, the pedestrians crossing, the jeepneys unloading anywhere, the feeling of hunger, and sometimes the alarm clock that caused you to be late. But, really, who to blame?

Last 2007, there were about 5.5 million registered vehicles in the Philippines and about 20% of this is in National Capital Region. Are we that dependent on vehicles? This statistic, which is 6 years ago, might be a lot less than what it is now. Even with the number coding scheme, we can still feel this large amount of registered vehicles throughout the NCR. But these numbers only say that there is a problem that needs to be solved.

According to some people in other countries when going to the Philippines, the cars are much cheaper here compared to the country where they came from. Maybe because of the low cost of living here in the Philippines. This is a huge part of why lots and lots of vehicles are registered and are on the road every rush hour of every day.

The Philippines was one of the early developers of railway system in Asia. However, things have change. Today, we are underdeveloped. We only have 4 lines of railway system in Luzon. These are even above-the-ground railway systems. According to my professor in a Transportation subject in Civil Engineering, the early plans of railway system in Metro Manila were underground. But it never happened and the stations were even few.

Too much dependence on vehicular traveling is not good for the Filipino citizens. This is why the prices of everything here in the Philippines are all dependent on the price of gasoline. Addressing these problems will definitely lessen the traffic problems of everyday. Following the price scheme of cars of other countries and pursuing to extend railway lines will be solutions to this problem. Changed price will be forcing people to look for alternatives and extended railway lines will be that alternative.