August 09, 2019

MANILA – Aside from reducing traffic congestion, the completion of projects under the Build, Build, Build program will drastically cut transport cost in Metro Manila from PhP3.5 billion per day in 2017 to PhP2.13 billion per day in 2022, according to the National Economic and Development Authority Board’s Committee on Infrastructure (INFRACOM).

In its meeting chaired by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Secretary Mark A. Villar on August 05, 2019, the INFRACOM endorsed for NEDA Board approval the results and recommendations of the Follow-up Survey on the Roadmap for Transport Infrastructure Development for the Greater Capital Region or the Roadmap 2.

“With the Build, Build, Build projects now underway, the public can expect a significant reduction in traffic congestion in Metro Manila as some of the projects near completion,” said Villar.

With technical assistance from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), Roadmap 2 updated the information and results of the “Roadmap for Transport Infrastructure Development for Metropolitan Manila and its Surrounding Areas (Regions III and IV-A)” or the Transport Roadmap, which was approved by the NEDA Board in 2014.

Under the Roadmap 2, the impact of the Build, Build, Build program, as well as proposed additional projects, on the overall transport network performance of Mega Manila was analyzed for the short-term or by 2022, and for the long-term or by 2035.

The transport projects under study include 29 railway projects, 14 road-based public transport projects, 2 traffic management projects, 15 expressway projects, 9 bridge/flyover projects, and 38 urban road projects, among others, with a total investment requirement of at least PhP2.8 trillion until 2035.

For the long-term scenario in year 2035, the completion of the proposed investment program for Metro Manila will bring down transport costs from PhP3.5 billion per day to PhP2.40 billion per day.

“We know that Filipinos desire greater mobility. The Philippine Development Plan 2017-2022 also calls for efficiency in cities and connectivity between growth centers and lagging areas to promote growth and reduce regional disparities. This is why we are making our transport system convenient and efficient,” said NEDA OIC-Undersecretary for Investment Programming Jonathan L. Uy.

Furthermore, Roadmap 2 calls for the implementation of secondary roads and sub-urban roads and other transport sub-sector strategies aligned with the proposed development of other growth centers in the north and south of Metro Manila.

With the survey results, the government’s current Build-Build-Build program in Mega-Manila is expected to be fine-tuned towards accelerating implementation timelines of ongoing infrastructure projects and identifying needed priority infrastructure projects for the long-term to spread socio-economic development beyond Mega-Manila to other parts of Luzon in particular and in the Philippines in general.

 

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