It is almost certainly correct to say that the great majority of people interested in the Metro Manila traffic gridlock have come to the conclusion that the effective solutions to the gridlock are to be found not at ground level—at-grade, in technical parlance—but above the ground and below the ground. They are bound to have concluded that things like color-coding, Mabuhay lanes and no-street-parking bans are mere palliatives and provide no real solutions to one of this country’s most serious infrastructural problems.
The growing network of flyovers and Skyway-type roadways attest to the increasing resort of the government—more specifically, the Department of Transportation, the Department of Public Works and Highways and the National Economic and Development Authority—to the above-ground approach to Metro Manila traffic amelioration. The nation’s premier metropolis is slowly becoming criss-crossed by aerial roadways, financed either on a public-private partnership basis or entirely with private capital.
Early last month, the Duterte administration decided to act on the suggestion of a number of people—myself included—for government resort to the below-ground approach to Metro Manila traffic amelioration. On Sept. 6, Neda announced that the Investment Coordination Committee-Cabinet Committee approved Phase 1 of the Metro Manila Subway Project. Phase 1 will run for more than 30 kilometers from northeast Metro Manila to the southeast part of the metropolis, touching six cities, namely, Valenzuela City, Quezon City, Pasig City, Taguig City, Makati City and Paranaque City. There will be 11 stations. The northernmost station will be Mindanao Ave. and the southernmost will be Ninoy Aquino International Airport. In-between will be stations located along Tandang Sora Avenue, North Avenue, Quezon Avenue, East Avenue, Anonas St., Katipunan Avenue, Ortigas North, Fort Bonifacio and Food Terminal Inc. The estimated travel time between Mindanao Ave. and FTI is 31 minutes.
Groundbreaking for Phase 1 is scheduled for 2018 and the target completion date is mid-2025. In its first year of operation, Phase 1 is expected to be able to serve 365,000 passengers.
An official development assistance loan from Japan International Cooperation Agency will finance the estimated P335-billion cost of Phase 1. The Jica loan will be payable over a 40-year period, with a grace period of 12 years, and will bear an interest rate of 0.10 percent. The loan will also cover the cost of a 28-hectare Training Center and a Valenzuela City depot.
The estimated 31 minutes that it will take a commuter to travel from Mindanao Ave. to the vicinity of Naia compares with the current two to three hours that such a journey takes.
Up until recently the factor militating most strongly against the installation of a subway system in Metro Manila was the proneness of this country to earthquakes. The fear of earthquakes persisted despite the fact that two of the world’s most earthquake-prone metropolises—Tokyo and Los Angeles—are served by subway systems.
The fact that the just-approved project covers Phase 1 suggests that in time, there will be a Metro Manila-wide subway system. The next phase should be a line running northwest to southwest; such a line will service rapidly growing Cavite.
The Metro Manila Subway Project is a perfect example of the saying “Better late than never.” It will not be here until mid-2025, but the subway is coming.
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