Traffic Congestion: A Threat to Economic Growth

Everyone who has been on the streets of Manila will surely understand the struggles one must need to go through in order to get to a destination. Looking around your immediate location will make you understand that this issue is not just a result of poor urban planning or lack of discipline; many other matters also make every day traveling feel like a torture. This is not just a problem for commuters and motorists, but also a hazard in the economic growth of the Philippines.

The condition of the public roadways in the Philippines has been a constant threat to businesses in providing quality services. This is not just limited to freight forwarding businesses, delivery services, and couriers. To start off, setting deadlines with the clients can end up in conflict if the traffic congestion isn’t put into consideration. Every minute that is lost while stuck in traffic can also mean added production cost in form of gasoline. The extended hours on the road also means extended hours exposed to possible accidents on the road. These are the reason why it is necessary to plan ahead and consider the threats that may occur while on the road to avoid additional expenses. 

So how is the traffic congestion hurting us as a nation? To put it simply, the traffic congestion is hindering even the littlest of the citizens in fulfilling their occupational obligations. It is both physical and mentally straining which may also hurt their individual affect work performance. Collectively, that could hurt us as an economy. This could mean a decline in the business performance and may discourage foreign investors. Without these Investors, there won’t be enough jobs to provide to the continuously growing population of the country. 

If you will try to identify the main cause of the traffic in the Philippines, you will realize that I will take enormous efforts to resolve it. The government hasn’t been lying down either in trying to address the issue of traffic congestion in the country. They are constantly searching for solutions that will make it bearable for everyone to travel and to enforce order. These are: 

Number coding scheme

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The Unified vehicular Volume Reduction Program (UVVRP) or Number Coding is a traffic decongestion scheme which bans private and public utility vehicles from plying the roads on weekday peak-hours. For more information about this, visit MMDA – Things you need to know about the number coding scheme

Truck ban ordinance on main roads

Cargo trucks mostly used in a trucking services are motorized vehicles intended to carry cargos having a gross capacity weight of more than 4, 500 kilos. Refer to MMDA – Truck ban ordinance for further information.

Bus segregation scheme

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Bus segregation scheme tends to limit the location the buses can stop to load and unload passengers. Visit Rappler - INFOGRAPHIC: How to find the right bus on EDSA for a visualize simplification.

Road widening projects

Road widening projects have taken effect to accommodate more vehicles on the road. This was under Republic act no. 917, for a broad explanation of this law just visit Official Gazette – Republic Act No. 917.

The traffic congestion in the country is a problem that is hurting us as a nation and needs to get addressed to keep us moving forward. It is not just an issue that freight forwarders or delivery services should learn to adapt to. With these numerous schemes being implemented and only minimal observable improvement, maybe it's time we start addressing the issue from a different point of view. Market localization and decentralization, anyone?