Making our cities livable
Credit to Author: ROBERT SIY| Date: Fri, 20 Dec 2019 17:26:09 +0000
Let’s face it: For urban Filipinos, life has become more difficult and stressful in recent years. And this is despite economic growth exceeding 6 percent and the incidence of poverty dropping. The reason is that Philippine cities, where over half of our population resides, are becoming more and more unlivable. This is the silent, but real, crisis that our country faces.
Whether you are in a private car or walk or use public transport, you are likely spending three to six hours a day in traffic or trying to get to your destination while breathing polluted air. That is equivalent to 1.5 months to three months of your life every year. That is time that you could have spent with your loved ones, in leisure, being more productive, running personal errands, honing your skills, recharging your batteries, or catching up on sleep. Instead, for several hours each day, you are tense, upset, weary and anxious — not knowing what time you will get to work, school or home.
We have tried that same old solutions and failed. For decades, we have entertained the hope that one more expressway, one more bridge, one more lane of road will ease traffic.
To create more road space for cars, we have reduced the width of sidewalks, we have erased or elevated our pedestrian crosswalks, we have transformed public spaces into more lanes for cars. In the end, the recurring result has been even more cars, higher emissions, more traffic, and worsening mobility for all.
More urban infrastructure is urgently needed, but it should be the right kind of infrastructure. Infrastructure that facilitates the movement of private cars has the effect of attracting greater car use — which leads in the end to even more congestion. Today, lesson number one in schools of urban planning and transportation engineering is that traffic will NOT be solved by more roads and bridges for cars.
Behind the relentless pursuit of more infrastructure for cars is the flawed assumption that private motor vehicles offer the best freedom of movement and that a comfortable life means having access to a car. This view has taken root in the Philippines only because public transport, walking and cycling in this country are so unattractive.
With the prevailing mobility crisis (and the certainty of worsening congestion unless we change course), now is the time to abandon our “car-oriented” thinking. The solution is to prioritize public transport, walking and cycling to make these travel options “high quality” so that people leave their cars at home.
Adopting the above prescription makes good engineering and economic sense because it enables existing road space to carry a lot more people. One lane of road devoted to cars can move at most 2,000 people per lane in each direction. Devoting the same road space for public transport, walking or cycling can move five to 10 times more people.
Why should we give pedestrians, cyclists and commuters priority in the use of road space? The simple and compelling reason is that the vast majority of Filipinos, over 90 percent, do not own cars. We should address the mobility requirements of the carless majority instead of catering to the needs of the small percentage who use cars.
Imagine a city where you could catch high quality air-conditioned trains or buses within a 10-minute walk from your residence, school or place of work; where you could use a bicycle to ride along a protected bike lane to any barangay in your city; where every neighborhood has well paved and unobstructed sidewalks, accessible by those with strollers or wheelchairs; and where a 20-kilometer journey on low emission buses or trains could be completed reliably in less than one hour. It would be a much more livable city than what we have today.
How do we make our cities livable? Start by setting the right objectives. Prioritize the mobility of people over the mobility of private motor vehicles. Favor transportation options that move the maximum number of people over options that move the maximum number of cars.
Build capacities and empower institutions in the public and private sectors to deliver high quality public transport services. Define and enforce public transportation service standards covering safety, reliability, accessibility and comfort.
Shift budget resources away from investments in car-oriented infrastructure and into investments that enhance the attractiveness of walking, cycling and public transport. Re-design and re-construct our streets so that the needs of all users — pedestrians, cyclists, commuters and car users — are considered and accommodated. Create pleasant public spaces in every locality and neighborhood so that pedestrians will enjoy long walks and stop occasionally to appreciate the surroundings.
Invest aggressively in raising the quality and capacity of both rail-based and road-based mass transit. Help our transport industry transition smoothly to a service-oriented business model with modern low emission vehicles. Apply travel demand management measures, such as parking policy and road congestion pricing, to discourage private vehicle use.
Can we achieve this dream of a livable city? It will depend to a large extent on whether our officials and policy-makers buy into the principle that pedestrians, cyclists and public transport users deserve highest priority in the allocation of budget resources and road space. To realize our dream, we need to share this vision of inclusive and sustainable mobility and advocate for it.
Robert Y. Siy is a development economist, city and regional planner, and public transport advocate. He can be reached at mobilitymatters.ph@yahoo.com or followed on Twitter @RobertRsiy.