One of the notable business groups in the country, the Management Association of the Philippines, is asking the Marcos Jr. Administration to declare a State of Traffic Calamity, as heavy traffic is causing an estimated P3.5 billion in damages to all affected commuters.

In a statement on Thursday, MAP Transportation and Infrastructure Committee chair Eduardo Yap said the traffic congestion in Metro Manila has been so severe that an estimated P3.5 billion daily economic loss is being incurred continuously, and therefore more than merits a declaration of a state of calamity in the metropolis by the President who may avail of emergency powers to provide relief measures.

This was revealed by Yap during the public hearing of the House Committee on Metro Manila Development last 20 March to speak on its Holistic Plan to address the ongoing severe traffic congestion problem, and House Bill Number 4363 providing emergency powers to the President to address the severe traffic problem, among other matters.

“The MAP Holistic Plan calls for such a declaration, albeit a traffic crisis, and a new management task force headed by a Traffic Czar to undertake a comprehensive program consisting of short, medium and long-term measures to provide the soonest relief with administrative and management measures, and long-term sustainability through structural interventions, particularly transportation infrastructures focused on mass public transportation,” Yap told lawmakers.

Moreover, the MAP official stressed that private EVs or electric vehicles, a matter also discussed in the said hearing, should be encouraged as laudable, being proposed by Bataan Rep. Albert Garcia, as they do not pollute the air, and for this purpose, public buses on the EDSA Busway be progressively converted to electric power.

“But private EVs and other private vehicles should not be allowed to use the EDSA Busway as it is dedicated to public buses. This Busway is unlike a high occupancy vehicle lane where other private vehicles are allowed. To allow EVs on the Busway will violate globally accepted standards and best practices which are intended to ensure its efficiency as a public conveyance facility. Allowing other vehicles will congest the Busway and degrade its efficiency to the prejudice of commuters as their commute will be subjected to delay,” Yap explained.

“This position against other vehicles on the Busway is consistent with MAP policy reflected on a public statement issued on 16 December 2022 when a similar proposal was made,” he added.

To incentivize private EVs, Yap suggested that EVs be instead exempted from the payment of road congestion charges when such a system of travel demand management, envisioned under the NEDA National Transport Plan, is finally instituted on congested private car lanes in major roads, such as EDSA.

He stressed that the ideal time to institute this travel-demand-regulating measure is when the Busway and the MRT3 have been privatized and upgraded to global standards of efficiency.

“Such a situation will present an attractive mobility option, other than private vehicles, that will encourage motorists to shift to mass transit and spare motorists from incurring road congestion user charges while helping to decongest traffic,” according to Yap.

The EDSA Busway is a private sector advocacy initiated under MAP and Financial Executives Institute of the Philippines by Yap in 2015 and implemented on 1 June 2020 by the DOTr after persistent personal advocacy efforts over 5 years.

Hence, the Busway is being closely monitored by MAP to ensure compliance with global standards and best practices.

“The current efforts at building big-ticket transportation infrastructure and certain traffic measures will contribute to traffic decongestion, but all these disparate measures must be under a comprehensive plan, such as MAP's Holistic Plan, to effectively address this multi-decade long traffic congestion problem which is worsening by the year,” he maintained.