Traffic and inclusive mobility

 

So, what exactly is “Inclusive Mobility”? 

The APEC Transport Ministers have taken up “Inclusive Mobility” as a strategy in their second meeting in Cebu recently. Inclusive mobility has suddenly become a buzzword, especially since it is mentioned in relation to the horrendous traffic that is experienced in Metro Manila and other cities in the Asia-Pacific region. 

The Inclusive Mobility Network, the multi-sectoral coalition of over 20 inclusive mobility organizations and agencies advocating inclusive mobility in the country, has identified ten principles to observe:

1. A transport system that works for the poor and vulnerable. The test for inclusive mobility is not that the average person is mobile, but that even the poor and vulnerable are. If we beam only for the average person, we exclude half of the population!
2. A walkable, bike-able, accessible city. To move the city, every person should be able to carry himself, if not all the way, then part of the way. Everyone who can, must walk, bike, commute, and only as a last resort, take the car.
3. Moving people, not vehicles. Those who have less in wheels, must have more in roads. Efficient and effective public transport must be the backbone of the transport system. 
4. Mobility with safety and civility. Mobility in a highly urbanized and complex city must not sacrifice safety and civility. The dignity and security of human life must be upheld.  
5. Clean air, clean streets, clean vehicles, clean facilities. The sustainability of the transport system must be assured, and this must be evident on the ground, not only in statistics.
6. Planning and communicating better and traveling less. Mobility is accomplishing travel purposes at least travel, cost, and time.  Habitual planning and communicating, individually and collectively, help reduce travel.
7. Sharing information to increase connectivity and accessibility. Navigating through the city requires choosing between alternative paths, modes, and combinations. The more we know the feasible alternatives, the more efficient we travel.  
8. Making our neighborhoods more accessible to the rest of the city. We cannot expect the whole city to be hospitable to our travel intentions, if we keep the city out of our own neighborhoods.
9. Changing mindsets and behaviors – the authorities’ as well as ours.  Inclusive mobility is a set of conditions shaped by human intentions and behaviors – more of ours, and less of the authorities.
10. Mobility of all, by all, for all. We cannot inflict inclusive mobility on the poor and the vulnerable. They must actively and meaningfully participate and own their share of inclusive mobility schemes and initiatives, commensurate to their collective footprint on the streets.

The Inclusive Mobility Network is a broad coalition of inclusive mobility advocates – public transport, non-motorized transport, PWD transport facilities, clean air, road safety, seamless mobility, commuter rights.  It was jumpstarted by the Project entitled “Catalyzing New Mobility in Cities: The Case of Metro Manila” implemented by the Innovation at the Base of the Pyramid in Southeast Asia (iBoP-Asia) Program at the Ateneo School of Government, with support from the Rockefeller Foundation from 2011-2014.

The Inclusive Mobility Network envisions the impact of inclusive mobility to be “a safe, seamless, well-connected, accessible, and user-friendly Metro Manila sustainable urban transport system that works for all Metro Manilans, especially the poor, the vulnerable, the disadvantaged, and the marginalized.” 

In order to attain inclusive mobility, the Inclusive Mobility Network formulated four strategic objectives that together create the operational environment for inclusive mobility. These four objectives are mobility, safety, productivity, and civility.

Mobility

Enhanced Mobility is defined as achieving travel purposes at the least cost, and travel time. The indicators are (1) reduced travel time, (2) reduced passenger-waiting time, (3) reduced volume count, and (4) enhanced quality of travel experience.   

In Metro Manila, the presence of public, formal and informal, transportation hubs and terminals are strategically located in areas readily accessible to commuters such as malls, marketplaces, schools, etc. 

However, the non-motorized transport (NMT) users such as bikers and pedestrians are still struggling to claim their own share in road space. Bike lanes, sidewalks, and other NMT facilities are usually occupied by sidewalk vendors and used as private parking spaces. 

Safety

Enhanced Safety is defined as travelling with least risk of loss of life, limb, and property. The indicators are reduced deaths and injuries on the road, (2) reduced number of vehicular accidents, (3) faster response time to aid road accident victims, and (4) faster response time in clearing roads.    

Productivity 

Enhanced Productivity is defined as generating higher production of goods and services as a result of less travel cost, effort, and time. The indicators are (1) higher occupancy of vehicles, (2) higher ratio of trips using public transport compared to private vehicles, (3) faster delivery of government and private sector services, and (4) lower cost of operating and maintaining transport vehicles and facilities.   

Civility 

Enhanced Civility is defined as having enhanced courtesy, discipline, and contribution to an engaging and encouraging travel and mobility environment. 

The indicators are (1) reduced incidence of road rage and other forms of violence and conflict, (2) reduced incidence of illegal parking as well as reckless and discourteous driving behavior, (3) reduced unnecessary use of horns and wangwang, and (4) reduced negative road behavior such as spitting, jaywalking, littering, smoking, and wearing improper/indecent attire.

Mind shift: Metropolitan governance

The worsening traffic congestion in Metro Manila despite the attempts to improve traffic through enactments, engineering, enforcement, education, environment, and evaluation clearly point to the need to restructure traffic governance as a solution. One possible reform is the designation of a lone government agency to handle all aspects of urban transport management. Transport governance, however, cannot be taken in isolation of other dimensions of metropolitan governance. 

One modality is to provide a strong metropolitan government that builds on the currently weakened structural and functional position of the metropolitan authority (Metropolitan Manila Development Authority) to perform a set of integrated metropolitan services such as transport and traffic management, air pollution and solid waste management, disaster risk reduction and management, flood control, and public order and safety. Such a model is not without precedent.  

The previous Metro Manila Commission and Metro Manila Authority models headed by a governor, requires a rethinking of the decentralization policy enunciated in the Local Government Code as it applies to metropolitan areas such as Metro Manila. This paradigm shift must be given expression in national legislation. Consideration of this initiative must be taken in conjunction with initiatives towards creating new levels of governance, e.g., the Bangsamoro Basic Law, and renewed calls for a federal form of government to accommodate differing circumstances of various regions and cultures in the country. It is time to plan and govern Metro Manila as a single metropolitan entity, not primarily as a concatenation of 17 local government units.

National agenda

The current interest in “Inclusive Mobility” must trigger a mind shift and be translated into specific proposals in the programs of government of political parties and candidates in the upcoming presidential and general elections.  Inclusive mobility in Metro Manila is not a local issue, and should be treated as a critical concern in national governance.  

Clearly, mobility that is designed for the ground up for only the car-riding rich and middle class will continue to be repudiated by the poor through various acts of defiance, including unbridled purchase and deployment of their own motorcycles and undisciplined road behavior. Inclusive mobility is moving people, not vehicles. Moving people is primarily about road-sharing and less of construction of more roads. A city that does not move its people is building towards the equivalent of a heart attack. – Rappler.com

 

The author delivered this talk at the 10th Annual CE Talk Breakthrough, on October 9, 2015, at the GTE-Toyota Asian Center Auditorium, UP Diliman, Quezon City.