Chapter IIReview of Related LiteratureTechnology has changed access to information drastically and widened the opportunities of what is possible (Salfeter, 2018). With smartphones, people have access to information instantly, as well as the possibility to share information instantly themselves. This connection, made possible via the internet, has made way for the sharing economy. Concepts like carpooling/car-sharing (as well as companies like Uber) are examples of exploiting technology to leverage spare capacity of cars. It is, however, not nearly enough to meet the transportation demand of tomorrow.
On the other end of the scale there are super innovative solutions such as the advancement in the transportation.This advancement could revolutionize current means of transport. However, the world are not quite there yet and in the meantime, the public transport system has not changed much in the last few decades: there is a lot that can be done today to make travel easier.The car revolutionized our means of transport a century ago and now we are talking about another revolution with new technology, but there is a large gap between where we are and where we want to go. The growing urban population will inevitably increase traffic congestion.
And with cities being responsible for 75 per cent of global CO2 emissions, this creates a great need to expand public transportation systems to ensure sustainable mobility.We can view our traffic from different perspectives: longer commute time, employee absences, stress, wasted man-hours, and added fuel expenses are just some of them. But don’t take our word for it (Carmudi, 2016). Senator Ralph Recto estimates that the Philippines suffers around a P2.6 billion (or $55.8 million) economic loss each day created by traffic congestion. What’s more, this figure rises to P3 billion (or $64.
39 million) at the peak of the rainy season. What’s more, the country loses around 0.8% of its gross domestic product because of this problem, with a productivity loss of P800 billion ($18 billion) each year.
John Forbes, senior advisor of the American Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines, warns of Metro Manila’s risk of becoming “uninhabitable” by 2020 if vehicles continue to increase while roads and infrastructure remain the same. Now we can’t help but wonder if the Philippines is indeed nearing its “carmageddon”.Yes, we can say without any hesitation that traffic is the most critical problem in the country right now. And with a chaotic mega-city swarmed by 12 million commuters during the day, around 367,000 vehicles (more than double its capacity) in EDSA alone, and extremely congested areas within Taft Avenue, Munoz, Katipunan Avenue, Cubao, Balintawak, and Baclaran, our traffic problem will continue to get worse if left to rot and sputter on its own.
