A sudden downpour – and Metro Manila is mired in hours of gridlock.
Such is the state of traffic on the roads of the urban capital region during the rainy season.
There seems be no immediate solution to the logjam facing commuters of the 17 cities and towns that comprise Metro Manila.
Toll roads and railways are designed to speed up the movement of vehicles and people—but they are not enough to catch up with the travel demand of the ever-increasing population.
The monstrous traffic jams we saw in the past two days as a result of thunderstorms will certainly not be the last, even without the heavy rains.
The congestion will get worse as more Filipinos from the provinces migrate to Metro Manila for jobs, and as vehicle sales continue to increase.
For one, there is no more road space to accommodate additional vehicles in the capital region.
Total car sales sales in the Philippines grew 30.7 percent in the first half of 2023 to 202,415 units from 154,874 in the same period in 2022.
Metro Manila’s roads are expected to be swamped with more vehicles, assuming half of the yearly sales are accounted by buyers living or working in the metropolis.
Authorities blame several flash floods for the heavy traffic on Wednesday that prompted one toll road operator to apologize to the public.
A poor drainage system leads to flash floods that slow down road traffic, although it is only one of the causes of the gridlock that has become a standard fare in a fast-developing economy like ours.
Decongesting Metro Manila is the only way out of the traffic mess.
Policymakers should work out incentives to lure business establishments, including mega malls, away from the capital region.
They should deter proposals that would only exacerbate the current traffic situation.
One case is the offer from the private sector to modernize the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, or NAIA.
An upgraded and bigger NAIA that can accommodate more air travelers will aggravate Metro Manila’s gridlock, unless the project incorporates a railway component.
Modern urban centers in the world build and design their airports with a rail link to improve the accessibility of passengers to downtown areas or, in some cases, suburbs or distant cities.
The railway connection provides air passengers an option to avoid chaotic road traffic conditions in getting to their next immediate destination.
American and European airports complement their airports with metros, or subways.
If policymakers, thus, are not serious in decongesting Metro Manila, Filipino commuters for the meantime should bear the unpleasant ride.