EDITORIAL – Worst in the world

Some government officials are questioning the results, but harried people in Metro Manila likely agree with the outcome of an online survey conducted by popular navigation app Waze, which rated Manila as the city with the “worst traffic on Earth.”

The first-ever Global Driver Satisfaction Index, with 50 million users surveyed in 32 countries and 167 metro areas, also ranked the Philippines as the ninth worst country for driving.

Visitors to the Indonesian capital Jakarta or in some of the crowded cities of Pakistan and India may dispute Manila’s ranking, but in fact the Philippine mega-city is a strong contender for the worst tag. Failure to anticipate the needs of an ever-growing population has led to inadequate mass transportation and the consequent continuing growth in private car ownership. This growth has not been matched by any significant expansion in the road network. Inadequate flood control has compounded the problem, with Metro Manila – as recent events have shown – paralyzed by flooding after a thunderstorm of only an hour.

Instead of rushing to expand and modernize mass transportation facilities, in the past years the administration has turned Metro Manila’s light rail services into a national disgrace – symbols of inefficiency, neglect of ordinary commuters’ needs, and, if the indictments prove accurate, large-scale corruption in the time of the tuwid na daan or straight path.

The lack of a decent train service and failure to anticipate logistics needs are major factors behind congestion in the Port of Manila and the consequent traffic jams. Businessmen have warned that the congestion could return with the approach of the Christmas season.

Also aggravating the problem is the lack of coordination, or refusal to coordinate traffic management between the  Metropolitan Manila Development Authority and the local government units within its jurisdiction. The local executives of Metro Manila generally refuse to give the MMDA chairman, a presidential appointee, any semblance of higher authority over elected mayors.

The Waze results may be challenged by certain government officials. But for millions of harried motorists and commuters in Metro Manila, traffic in the nation’s most densely populated region surely feels like the worst in the world.