‘Vehicles in NCR balloon to 1.1 million’

MANILA, Philippines — The volume of motor vehicles traversing the National Capital Region has increased by 1.1 million in a decade or from 2013 to 2023, according to a think tank report of the House of Representatives.

Average annual daily traffic rose to 3.6 million in 2023 from 2.5 million in 2013, the June report of the Congressional Policy and Budget Research Department showed, citing the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA).

Commonwealth Avenue posted the highest surge in annual daily traffic, from 237,577 in 2013 to 407,988 in 2023, for a 71.7 percent increase.

The number of motor vehicles plying Quezon Avenue surged to 312,486 in 2023 from 183,609 in 2013, for a 70.2 percent increase.

Motorcycles also increased by 286.5 percent, “perhaps driven by the growth in e-commerce deliveries over the past years as well as the mainstreaming of motorcycle taxis,” the report read.

Road crashes involving motorcycles increased by 80 percent, based on the MMDA’s Metro Manila Accident Recording and Analysis System.

Tricycles have increased to 33,397 in 2023 from 23,141 in 2013. Cars dropped to 1.7 million in 2023 from 1.73 million in 2013.

The number of public utility vehicles decreased due to the phasing out of traditional jeepneys under the government’s PUV modernization program, the report noted.