The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) on Wednesday said there is no need to appoint a traffic czar to address road congestion in Metro Manila, citing ongoing government efforts.
The Management Association of the Philippines (MAP) claimed that Metro Manila has a traffic crisis, listed as among the worst-traffic areas in 2023.
MAP suggested that a traffic czar should be appointed by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and given full powers to mobilize, direct, and deploy government resources to ease traffic in the metropolis.
But MMDA general manager Procopio Lipana rejected this, saying the government is already making continuous efforts to mitigate traffic problems and there is no need to appoint a traffic czar.
“The main problem is our infrastructure because we really have a lack of road network when compared to the number of vehicles,” he said in an interview with ABS-CBN Teleradyo.
“The infrastructure project of the government is massive. There is the Skyway, Subway, and rail system. The MRT-7 is about to be completed. With those projects, when they are finished, it will be a big relief,” he added.
The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has stated that Metro Manila’s traffic congestion costs the Philippine economy billions of pesos daily.
The MMDA, the government agency responsible for managing traffic in the National Capital Region, assured the public that it is actively working with the Department of Transportation and other agencies to find a solution to the persistent traffic issue.
MMDA chairman Romando Artes said there are already necessary comprehensive traffic management interventions in place.
He acknowledged that traffic congestion in the metropolis is a decades-old problem and attributed it to various factors, such as vehicle volume, lane blockages, diggings and road repairs, ongoing construction of government flagship infrastructure projects, road configuration and conditions, and suspension of the No Contact Apprehension Policy (NCAP).
“Metro Manila has exceeded its carrying capacity for vehicles since it has 3.6 million vehicles on a 5,000-kilometer road network. In EDSA alone, there are 400,000-plus vehicles traversing the highway daily, but its carrying capacity is only for 300,000 vehicles,” Artes explained.
Illegal parking, illegal structures, vehicular accidents, and vehicles near school premises also contributed to traffic.