NEWS

By Paul Chua PhD | The Manila Times | December 30, 2021

WHILE seated on my office swivel chair, a question suddenly boarded my inquisitive train of thought. Is the country on the right track in realizing the vision it has set for the future of Light Rail Transit (LRT) systems? Have we done enough to harness the potential that LRT holds in solving traffic woes in the metropolitan areas?

Going back 41 years ago, the Light Rail Transit Authority was created as a government-owned and controlled corporation by virtue of Executive Order 603, dated July 12, 1980, when then president Ferdinand E. Marcos Sr. created the LRTA to be primarily responsible for the construction, operation, maintenance and/or lease of LRT systems in the Philippines.

LRTA first confined its activities to determining policies, regularization and fixing of fares, and planning of extensions to the existing system before it became the Authority we know today. The study for its construction dates back from 1976 to 1977 when the World Bank funded a study conducted by Freeman Fox and Associates suggesting a street-level light railway that was later reviewed and revised by the then newly created Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) as they introduced an elevated version because of the numerous intersections along the alignment.

Now, the LRT-1 and LRT-2 systems under LRTA are in full swing. LRT-1 has 20 stations traversing Baclaran in Parañaque to Roosevelt in Quezon City and is now only being overseen by LRTA after its management was turned over to Light Rail Manila Corp. (LRMC), a private operator, starting in September 2015. LRT-2, on the other hand, has 13 stations traversing the Antipolo station in Antipolo City, Rizal, to Recto station in Manila. These LRT systems are set to expand further with the LRT-1 Cavite Extension currently under way and the LRT-2 West Extension painted on the horizon.

Refocus

“[T]he railways continue to see improvements, under the master plan of extending the country’s 77 kilometers of existing railway lines to 1,900 kilometers in 2022,” Department of Transportation Assistant Secretary Goddes Libiran wrote in a 2019 Tribune article entitled “The Golden Boy of Railways.”

As an engineering graduate and a believer in the power of science and technology, I know we can realize this plan. I concur with an author who said, “It seems it’s time, indeed, for us to look more to railways… as a major medium for moving goods and people — and not just for Luzon, but for parts of Visayas and Mindanao as well.” (Habito, 2014)

It is indeed high time that we refocus construction of LRT systems outside NCR and spur the development of other urban areas outside Luzon.

Thinking forward

In the 2018 JICA Final Report for the Davao City Infrastructure Development Plan and Capacity Building Project, the congestion forecast for road network is projected to become severe by 2030. The report said Davao City is expected to suffer daily congestion that would severely affect intercity traffic movement.

For Central Visayas, population grew to 8.08 million as of 2020 with a 188 percent growth rate for the past five years, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA). Cebu City was recorded as the most populous city in Central Visayas with a total population of 964,169 (PSA Central Visayas). Cebu has also reached an “unhealthy level” of air quality, according to the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) with 56 micrograms per normal cubic meter, which is above the safe guideline value of 50 micrograms per normal cubic meter. (Palaubsanon, 2019)

With this in mind, the cities of Davao and Cebu will certainly need a mass transportation system that will cater to their growing needs — something massive, efficient, fast, safe and environment-friendly. “Build them before we need them!” should be our mantra. While land is still relatively cheaper, with environmental considerations of course and with concrete plans for preventive maintenance and railway technology revolution, we should prepare to build LRT in highly populated and developing areas of the Philippines.

Thinking forward, we need better alternatives to prevent bottlenecks and further traffic gridlocks. LRT systems and intermodal networks might thus be our silver lining.

Final thoughts

As we envisage transformations in the railway landscape of the Philippines, we see a time when the air we breathe is healthy and traveling is not anymore as cumbersome. The Cebu LRT Project and Mindanao (MRP) have already reached the proper authorities.

The MRP, a flagship project of the Duterte administration, will span over 1,500 kilometers once finished. It will link Davao to Surigao and traverse key cities and provinces like General Santos, Marbel, Butuan, Cagayan de Oro, Iligan, Pagadian, Digos, Dipolog, Zamboanga and Surigao. (Quismorio, 2020)

In time, trains will be the way to go in mobilizing people and freight. I can’t wait to see that day.

Source: The Manila Times