PHILIPPINE

TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM
Prepared by:

Engr. Richelle
ENGR. PRECIOUSC. Vedad, MET,
PRINCESS T. CE
SABA
Instructor
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 HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
During the ancient times, the carabao was used as a primary transportation source in the Philippines. As early as 1910, few
motor vehicles seen operating in public highways in Manila and suburbs. Better means of transportation were invented and
introduced in the country. Gradually, the Filipinos learned to use cars, trucks, jeeps and other types of vehicles. The means of
transportation became better and powerful .

 During the period of 1940, there were 50,000 automobiles in the region. The country's first public mass-vehicular
transportation service was De Dios Transit Bus Corp., providing public mass transportation in major roads of Manila after
the Second World War.

 In 1984 a Light Rail Transit system began operating in Metro Manila running from Baclaran in the south to Monumento in
the North. The fifteen-kilometer system provided some relief from Metro Manila's highly congested traffic network.

 In 1987 there were more than 3,000 passenger and cargo ships in the interisland shipping industry, with a total
registered cargo tonnage of 417,500 tons. The ships accounted for about 85 percent of interisland cargo movements and
nearly 10 percent of passenger-kilometers traveled nationwide.

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 In 1988 there were 157,000 kilometers of roads, 26,000 of which were designated national (arterial) roads. The Pan
Philippine Highway, also called the Maharlika Highway, running from Laoag City in Ilocos Norte to Zamboanga City at the
southwest tip of Mindanao, was the country's main trunk road. The highway passed through twenty-one provinces. During
this year, 1.3 million motor vehicles were registered with the Bureau of Land Transportation. About 22 percent were
motorcycles; 30 percent were private automobiles, and 38 percent were utility vehicles. A large number of the utility
vehicles were jeepneys.

 The Philippine National Railroad began a project in 1990-91 to upgrade its southern track system, utilizing a P1.2 billion
loan from Japan. When completed in 1993, travel time from Manila to Bicol is cut substantially.

 In 1991 there were two international airports: Manila's Ninoy Aquino International Airport and Mactan International Airport
near Cebu City. Slightly over 1 million visitors arrived in the Philippines by air in 1988. About half of the national airports
were served by the main domestic and international carrier, Philippine Air Lines.

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Transportation in the Philippines
Transportation in the Philippines covers the transportation methods within
this archipelagic nation of over 7,500 islands. From a previously underdeveloped state of
transportation, the government of the Philippines has been improving transportation through
various direct infrastructure projects, and these include an increase in air, sea, road, and rail
transportation and transport hubs.

 Today, jeepney is the most popular and iconic public utility vehicle. They have become a
symbol of the Philippine culture. Another popular mode of public transportation in the country is
the motorized tricycles, especially common in smaller urban and rural areas. The Philippines
has four railway lines: Manila Light Rail Transit System Line 1, Manila Light Rail Transit
System Line 2, Manila Metro Rail Transit System Line 3, and the PNR Metro Commuter
Line operated by the Philippine National Railways. There are also steam engines found in
Visayas which operate sugar mills such as Central Azucarera. Taxis and buses are also
important modes of public transport in urban areas.
 The Philippines now has 12 international airports and has more than 20 major and minor
domestic airports serving the country. The Ninoy Aquino International Airport is the main
international gateway to the Philippines

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 Epifanio de los Santos Avenue (EDSA) is one of the most known highways in the Philippines. The
avenue passes through 6 of the 17 settlements in Metro Manila, namely, the cities
of Caloocan, Quezon City, Mandaluyong, San Juan, Makati and Pasay. EDSA is the longest highway
in the metropolis and handles an average of 2.34 million vehicles. Outside Metro Manila,
the MacArthur Highway links Metro Manila to the provinces in central and northern Luzon.
 In 2018, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) reported that the average daily
volume of cars passing EDSA was 251,628, dwarfing public utility buses that averaged 13,356.
 A 2019 Asian Development Bank (ADB) study reported that Metro Manila is the "most congested
city" out of 278 cities in developing Asia.
 As of August 2019, the Land Transportation Office reported that the National Capital Region
accounted for the largest number of registered motor vehicles at 1,644,932. Coming second is its
neighboring Region IV-A, with 880,168. These two alone account for almost 40% of the total
6,783,696 registered vehicles nationwide.

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ROOT PROBLEMS, ECONOMIC COSTS
A 2012 ADB study identified the main challenges the Philippine transportation faced:
Poor quality of road network
Poor intermodal integration
Weak sector governance and institutional capacity
Lack of quality urban transport systems
Limited private investment in transport infrastructure
In 2014, a Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) study projected the economic cost of
traffic in Metro Manila to reach up to P6 billion daily by 2030 – if the situation continues.

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 DISCOVERING ROLE OF TRANSPORTATION
ENGINEERING IN MANAGING PUBLIC TRANSPORT
CRISIS
From being the pioneer country that introduced the first ever metropolitan light rail system in
Southeast Asia, the Philippines’ public transportation system has seen better days. Spending long hours in
traffic and erratic breakdowns of existing train systems are only some of the common problems that
commuters face. As lockdown restrictions eased over the past months, traffic jams and congested roads have
started to resurface across the metro.
With new transportation issues posed by recent lockdowns, existing transportation operations and
services that have already been proven to be unreliable have been forced to adapt, being made to follow the
strict safety protocols implemented by the national government. Amid the current crisis, the challenge of
molding Metro Manila’s transportation systems to conform to current demands lies on the shoulders of
transportation engineers.
A Decentralized System
Although the government has allotted a higher budget for the Department of Public Works and Highways
and the Department of Transportation (DOTr) for 2020—receiving P582-billion and P101-billion,
respectively—the country’s dismal state of transportation leaves much to be desired.

Patricia Mariano—a former project development officer at the DOTr who now serves as an
advisor for German development agency Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale
Zusammenarbeit—notes the country’s fragmented modes of transportation as one of the main
problems. According to Mariano, this problem causes the following:
 Transportation system would be inefficient since it would be difficult to regulate.
 Disorganized supply of low quality public transport service.

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 Dr. Alexis Fillone, a seasoned transportation engineer and a Full Professor
from the Civil Engineering Department, urges to develop better public transport
systems to reduce the need for private cars that would, in bulk, clog up the
roads. Involved in several projects across the country, Fillone has dealt with the
reorganization of the traffic circulation system of the Port of Manila to facilitate the
traffic flow of cargo trucks. At present, he is the project leader of the Sustainable
Technology–Assisted Route Planning for Region VI project.
According to Filone, the main challenge for transportation engineers is
“how to design transportation systems that complement the arrangement of our cities
and civic spaces” in order to ensure safety and efficiency.

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