Allow LGUs capable of managing public transportation

In many cities and municipalities from all over the country, there is a public transport emergency and deepens. The public transport offer decreases, while the urban population continues to grow, which leads to the decrease in the welfare of the ship; Inadequate public transport, insecure and unpredictable; and long tails and severe agglomerations on Jeepneys, buses and UV Express and MPVs.

The harmful result is that public transport users move to the use of a private car or a motorcycle as soon as they can afford. We know that this is the formula for disaster and we are already experiencing the crisis in aggravating the congestion of the road. One reason for optimism is that there are local administration units (LGU) that recognize the emergency situation and take measures to address the need for safe, efficient, adequate and predictable public transport.

In order to model their economic and social environments, LGUs must be able to influence the use of land and other natural resources, including how people move to their localities. LGUs can influence the use of land and economic activity through business policies and zoning regulations, but their hands are linked when it comes to public transport. LGUs only have control over tricycles, while the supervision of other public transport modes (bus, Jeepney, UV Express, etc.) remains under the control of national agencies, such as the transport department (DTR) and the terrestrial transport franchise (LTFRB).

In general, where we find high quality public transport services in cities and countries from abroad, the responsibility of public transport is local. In Sydney, London, Seoul, Tokyo and other big cities, the coordination, planning and supervision of public transport services are locally – either metropolitan, provincial, state or city. This is due to the fact that LGUs are the best known about local conditions and are related to local users. If there is a problem with a public transport service, a commuteist should be able to complain to a local official, rather than a national official or agency.

In Metro Manila, the story of the decline of the welfare of the ship can be said in number. Between 2017 and 2023, the population of the metropolis increased by 18 % (from 12,462,000 to 14,667,000); However, during the same period, the supply of public transport decreased by 32 percent (from 419,000 to 285,000 vehicles), measured by the daily average daily traffic on the major roads of Metro Manila, while the average number of daily travel by privately bloated vehicles with 47 percent (from 2.280,000 to 3.350,000).

The same sad story appears when the data is broken down with the public transport mode. Between 2017 and 2023, the number of bus trips on the major roads of Metro Manila decreased by 35 percent; For Jeepneys and UV Express, it was 32 percent, respectively 69 percent. Some public transport routes have disappeared, depriving many commuters of their main travel mode. The natural consequence was the increased addiction of Metro Manilans on private cars and motorcycles, aggravating traffic and pollution.

Outside Metro Manila, we notice a similar trend. For example, a 2023 research study on the supply of public transport in the province of Quirino, carried out by the Union of Local Authorities in the Philippines, revealed a marked decrease in the number of public transport vehicles. From 100 buses that serve the province in 2017, only 35 units remained in 2023; From 78 Jeepneys in 2017, there were only 45 folding routes in 2023. Many other LGUs are facing the same descending trend in the public transportation. These statistics should trigger alarm bells in all parts of the government.

But there is hope. Today, we have an increasing number of LGUs that addresses the deficit in transport services using local resources. The Quezon city government offers free buses to serve eight routes that radiate from the Quezon Memorial Circle. The buses travel in a fixed program, with the buse operators paid daily a given number of kilometers, with stimulants and penalties related to performance. Recently, Quezon City has purchased a small fleet of eight electric buses and implements one of the routes.

Pasig City has worked a free bus service during the peak time for almost a decade. The provincial government cavite has recently granted a public-private partnership concession agreement (PPP) for a fast transit service that connects the population centers to the exchange of terminal integrated Parañaque. Baguio City is considering a PPP project for coordinating public transport services and traffic management, using information technology, data analysis and demand management tools, such as loading road congestion. Clark Development Corp., a state entity, has launched a new bus service with its own 10 -units bus fleet. These LGU pioneering efforts must be recognized, fed and extended.

Section 17 of the Law of Republic 7160, or the Code of Local Administration, already considering the LGU responsibility for transport. Unfortunately, national agencies have constantly restricted LGU authority to manage their own transport environments. For example, LTFRB did not allow LGUs to determine the tariff levels or to collect tariffs for public transport managed by LGU. This restriction prevents the LGUs from expanding their public transport services in a financial point of view. And even though the LGUs now prepare their own local public transport routes (LPTRP), the reality is that only a small LPTRP -to -dors have been approved.

Now is the best time for DTR and LTFRB to empower the LUGs to assume greater responsibility and responsibility for the results of the transport in their localities. If there are LGUs that have both the interest and the ability to manage public transport, they should have the option to assume their functions, as provided in the local administration code. Creating this flexibility and supporting LGU -led transport initiatives could be one of the “fast earnings” that will produce significant results for commuters before 2028.

Robert Y. Siy is an economist of development, developmental planner and public transport lawyer. He is a co-consignor of movement as a coalition. It can be contacted at (e -mail protected) or followed on x at @robertrsy.