The 2022 budget should be used to fill a Php150-billion gap in investments in road-based public transport, pedestrian, and cycling infrastructure. This shift will address the massive shortage in transport supply made worse by the pandemic. An overwhelming majority of Filipinos across age, sex, education, geography, and socioeconomic class support this shift: 87% of Filipinos believe that our roads “will be better off if public transport, bicycles, and pedestrians are given priority over private vehicles” (SWS, 2020). These investments will improve outcomes for our pandemic response, public health, a just and green economic recovery, road safety, equity, accessibility, wellbeing, and the environment.
A better normal requires a better spending mix. First, we should invest in moving people, not just cars, on our roads. Traffic congestion is still rife because over the past decade, 99% of the Php2.8 trillion in national road-based programs was used for road building, widening, and construction. Only 1% was invested in expanding road-based public transport supply and improving road efficiency and capacity for users. Compared with car-only lanes, PUV-only lanes enable roads to carry up to 29 times more people, cycling lanes up to 8 times more people, and walkways up to 10 times more people (TUMI, 2019).
Second, we should invest in more immediate mobility demands by investing in road-based public transport: The immediate transport needs of millions of Filipinos who do not own private vehicles are not being met. 98% of the Php2-trillion flagship project pipeline is for long-term rail projects, and only 2% is planned for road-based public transport. Even assuming project schedules are met, the current Build-Build-Build pipeline will not be enough to meet mobility demand over the next decade. There is still time to meet immediate mobility demands by focusing on active transport and road-based public transport, and investing in these will ensure that the Build-Build-Build program’s investments in rail and road infrastructure benefit more Filipinos than just the very few who own private vehicles and live or work near the rail lines being built.
Third, we should invest in strengthening the project management units in our transport institutions and in the feedback mechanisms between government and civil society. There is enough fiscal space for the Coalition’s proposed programs, but the capacity of our transport institutions to manage new challenges must be enhanced. Route rationalization, PUV modernization, service contracting, and incorporating active transport modes into transport planning are putting heavy demands on transport institutions and personnel, over and above the already well-known challenges of infrastructure planning and execution. We should ensure that transport institutions in both national and local governments are properly staffed, given sufficient budgets, and empowered to deliver the needed outcomes, on a permanent basis. As the Mandanas ruling takes effect, local government units should be given a larger role in implementing and financing their local transport systems. Critical comment welcome via moveasonecoalition@gmail.com.