Traffic in Manila

does philippines government has any traffic rule ? any traffic awareness program conducting here?
if you u have car ,bike or any other vehicle did u follow traffic rules.

krishn wrote:

In Manila we are having heavy traffic What is the reason behind ?

The reason is that about 10 million drivers with no brain-functionality are out at the same time thinking that skipping lanes will save them time going from place A to B.

I'm thinking of buying a helicopter.. lol

more vehicles, small roads..

was just caught up last night:(
reasons perhaps; even old vehicles still on the road, and seem to be no expiration. laws are not that strict, and punishment very light i guess.
@rathz, i do agree pare.
@ petrih, nice one man! ha ha ha, yeah u shud buy one, and yes most out no brain-functionality.

As per my observation , no proper Bus stop has been implemented, buses, jeepnes are stopping anywhere they need and no one following the proper lanes.

@Rateesh :- I will not agree , in Manila i felt roadsways are good enough to go compare to other countries.

The best point is Philippines Government not implemented proper rules on traffic. people doesnt have awareness.

If this will taken care , it make Philippines more beautiful.


thx
Manik

i think people are aware about those rules and regulations from the beginning they got their driver license ...the only problem maybe is because they are hard-headed....

Hi Princess Fiona ,As per my understanding Filipinos are amazing ,very friendly , human having very patience at ever.

hi krishn, thank you!

krishn wrote:

Hi Princess Fiona ,As per my understanding Filipinos are amazing ,very friendly , human having very patience at ever.

good to hear that, well in any place you are in, you should adapt and know the way things are done.

I agree there can be more improvement regarding the traffic situation, greater penalties, more enforcement of the law and discipline for drivers.

We are tring to adapt but i dont want to fall under adaptive category, i am really looking for innivative thoughts

Well said Krishn!

we need to change the traffic rules here. its very bad compared to other countries. Govt. need to take action against this asap!!

Food For Thought- I have driven in Manila, USA, Canada, Mexico, Germany, Ukraine, Iraq, Kuwait, South Korea, and Japan. Every place I have driven the experience is always different, frustrating and confusing. Manila is really no different than anyplace else. If you think about it, even with all the confusion on the streets, how many accedents have you seen in Manila? Myself? very very few. The secret lies in that all the drivers KNOW what the other guy is doing or about to do. I asked my brother in law about the apparent lack of rules and regulations on the road in Manila and his reply was "oh we have them, but we think of driving as democracy in action." LOL. Bottom line is, get used to it or take a jeepney, becuase you sure as heck aint gonna change it lol.

lack of good road developments (small roads) and lack of disciplined drivers. proper roads should be developed and traffic rules should be implemented & followed

there was a very good editorial in the manila times on this issue last week - it focused specifically on why the traffic on edsa was much slower than it should be - the artlicle concluded that this was caused by busses and jeepneys blocking lanes when they stopped rather than pulling over to the curb lane so as not to block the thru lanes - if this problem could be resolved by poliece action then edsa would flow

How i wish we could make a first step for our government to know about our traffic "thing" here in Manila...

Funny as the police now are enforcing the buses to stay in the bus lane on EDSA, with the effect that cars cannot enter or exit as its packed full of buses.  There are just too many buses on EDSA. Need to increase number of trains running on Metro. But it comes down to money. Govt subsidizes Metro so cant add more trains. People complain if fares go up.

Also, on EDSA, poorly planned from the start.  How many major thoroughfares will have U turns instead of under/over pass and use cones or barriers in the far left lane to block traffic so they can make the U turn. This is at Rockwell/Makati area and on North Edsa.

What is the best way to enforce traffic rules over buses and taxi's to follow lanes / need to stop only on those bus stands, need to block unnecessary parking areas,

Lets be together win together.........

Manik

scotth wrote:

Food For Thought- I have driven in Manila, USA, Canada, Mexico, Germany, Ukraine, Iraq, Kuwait, South Korea, and Japan. Every place I have driven the experience is always different, frustrating and confusing. Manila is really no different than anyplace else. If you think about it, even with all the confusion on the streets, how many accedents have you seen in Manila? Myself? very very few. The secret lies in that all the drivers KNOW what the other guy is doing or about to do. I asked my brother in law about the apparent lack of rules and regulations on the road in Manila and his reply was "oh we have them, but we think of driving as democracy in action." LOL. Bottom line is, get used to it or take a jeepney, becuase you sure as heck aint gonna change it lol.

That about says it all. I too have driven in many countries especially in Asia. Doesn't seem to matter where you are, you'll always encounter traffic problems wherever you are. I am from New Zealand and despite having a small population we too experience grid lock on a daily basis.

krishn wrote:

Hi Princess Fiona ,As per my understanding Filipinos are amazing ,very friendly , human having very patience at ever.

Thanks for the compliment, Krishn, its very flattering that expats learn the general attributes of Filipino.

cheers,

trixieandrea

Hi Andrew

I do acknowledge your point, but please don't compare Manila traffic with other countries because here even basic traffic rules not carried out that is the reason causing traffic and comparatively we dont have much population.


Rg
Manik

Manik/Krishn-----YOur missing the point, the Filipino people handle the traffic just fine! When you see three lanes of traffic where there should only be two, or a driver doing a u turn where noone in their right mind would, or a man standing in the road blocking traffic so someone else can park or exit, or when you see someone driving on the wrong side of the road, against a red light to make a left hand turn. Do you notice Filipino drivers getting bent out of shape? The answer is a resounding NO! They are USED to it, they GREW up with it and they go about their daily lives just fine. Live it! Love it! Get used to it! If you dont your going to be miserable. For one thing is certain YOU ARE NOT GOING TO CHANGE IT! LOLOLOL

hmmmmm..... aside from complaining.. is there anything we can do about it?
scotth.. i believe "Live it! Love it! Get used to it!" is not a solution... hehehe

Hi Princess,,,,to be honest, I do not believe there is much that can be done about it. I suppose you could ticket and fine every person who breaks published traffic laws. But will the fines be paid? Is that really a solution in a country where the average wage is 5-6 USD a day? You could build modern highways, rail lines, dedicated bus lanes, carpool lanes and all that. BUT where will the money for this new infasturcture come from? If you build and use iminent domain to clear a path for new constuction, where would all the people who's homes are taken go? I know it is frustrating, I have experienced it myself. But I don't complain about the traffic, I just smile in appreciation of the flexability, enginuity and patience of the Filipino driver and try and do as he does.

Wow, some of you guys need to really chill out. Traffic is traffic no matter what country you are in and i much prefer the way it is done in the Philippines than in Australia. So instead of bitching about it just adapt and make the most of it. Its not he end of the world........yet. hahahahahha take it easy guys

Well said Princess Fiona,

@Scotth, this is not complaint , u may take this has a public interest

@ trixieandrea: "Thanks for the compliment, Krishn, its very flattering that expats learn the general attributes of Filipino."
- cheers!

@ scotth: very well said! agree!!!

@krishn/Manik: maybe it's a lesson for us because in the first place we've face the truth bout our traffic problems. And we can do nothing bout that. Maybe what all can we do is to follow all the road signs..

@ johnnyb50: yes!  Its not yet the end of the world...there are still many positive changes that may happen in our traffic problem in the near future Everything's gonna be alright! Everything's gonna be okay!

Hi Princess , so you want me to close this discussion without any other further comments , why not you or myself or someone from this blog can be the Spark for solving this problem? Why can't we change the existing systems ? Why can't we share some plan of action to government to draft the test plan.

I don't want be a tourister......

@krishn: (^_^) thank you for being a concern and loving expatriate...

you all guys driving in here already?
hi Fiona!thanks for the patience for being one of the boys. appreciate it.

krishn wrote:

Hi Andrew

I do acknowledge your point, but please don't compare Manila traffic with other countries because here even basic traffic rules not carried out that is the reason causing traffic and comparatively we dont have much population.


Rg
Manik

dude if drivers there don't follow the rules, try driving here in the kingdom...you'll see how tame the "drivers" in Manila are..lol

Best solution:
1. More infrastructure
2. Provide an effective Centralized Mass transport
3. Lessen old, defective vehicles

I just hope to god they don't try to solve the problem with traffic circles.  They are making things a mess here in the USA.

flipicaneze wrote:

I just hope to god they don't try to solve the problem with traffic circles.  They are making things a mess here in the USA.

flipicanese are you talking about roundabouts? yeah I think that kind of scheme is accident prone...getting in and out of the roundabout takes a lot of skill to pull off..lol

dynamo1131 wrote:

flipicaneze wrote:

I just hope to god they don't try to solve the problem with traffic circles.  They are making things a mess here in the USA.

flipicanese are you talking about roundabouts? yeah I think that kind of scheme is accident prone...getting in and out of the roundabout takes a lot of skill to pull off..lol

Yes, they call them traffic circles here in the US.  Even worse the inner circle is a mound of dirt piled into a hill, making things impossible to see what's coming.

flipicaneze wrote:

dynamo1131 wrote:

flipicaneze wrote:

I just hope to god they don't try to solve the problem with traffic circles.  They are making things a mess here in the USA.

flipicanese are you talking about roundabouts? yeah I think that kind of scheme is accident prone...getting in and out of the roundabout takes a lot of skill to pull off..lol

Yes, they call them traffic circles here in the US.  Even worse the inner circle is a mound of dirt piled into a hill, making things impossible to see what's coming.

I'm here in the Philippines now and just realized they do have traffic circles, like one at NAIA..... And some are good at them, some are complete morons around them; and they are not designed very well at all.

Thanks for your question. Here's what I think about.
First, I noticed that in recent years as the economic progress in the Philippines get more positive and better, there was a significant increase in the number of private vehicles as well as public utility buses and vehicles. The major roads of metro manila was good 25 years back in time, where the car population was only millions. Now that the road is congested along with the law that mostly taken for granted by the motorists. Government should make more infrastructure that will divert more than half of traffic from  major roads, alternative roads are also suggested. Implementation of traffic laws, installing spy cameras to document those motorist who will fail to obey the law. MMDA--A government institution that handles traffic launches their website and twitter accounts to easily inform motorist about the traffic situation in the metro. trap.ph launches their personal traffic navigator that gives motorist members a privilege to manage their route depends on the current traffic situation.

When I was in Jordan, it seemed the same to me. People not knowing what has to happen, just crossing and honking all the time. But once you get into the traffic you can only adapt to the situation. Well, you have to adapt and not keep your 'safe' driving skills, or you won't get anywhere.

I admit, I'm not driving here yet (Makati) but as far as I can see it, the waiting time will be the worst part. Changing lanes (by taking a lot of public transportation, I feel that I know how it people think (except for the ones not minding anything at all, but that was the same in Belgium where traffic is very much regulated and over-regulated).

Planning on buying a car soon, hope my instincts are correct or I'll get some scratched soon

Traffic in Manila is always heavy. I think it is very transparent that the infrastructure is not enough to accommodate the number of daily motorists. Adding insult to the already "severe injury" are the jeepneys and buses clogging the streets. The morning and evening time are usually the most congested.

Pedro1986 wrote:

When I was in Jordan, it seemed the same to me. People not knowing what has to happen, just crossing and honking all the time. But once you get into the traffic you can only adapt to the situation. Well, you have to adapt and not keep your 'safe' driving skills, or you won't get anywhere.

I admit, I'm not driving here yet (Makati) but as far as I can see it, the waiting time will be the worst part. Changing lanes (by taking a lot of public transportation, I feel that I know how it people think (except for the ones not minding anything at all, but that was the same in Belgium where traffic is very much regulated and over-regulated).

Planning on buying a car soon, hope my instincts are correct or I'll get some scratched soon

Hello Belgian,

If you intend to buy a car, make sure that the insurance covers what they call "force majeure". You may be well aware that Manila flooding is getting ridiculous each year and a lot of car insurance do not cover force majeure unless you pay additional premium.

Also, having a car in Manila is only convenient if you travel daily on long distances. Otherwise, it is sometimes better to travel on MRT or LRT. I hate jeepneys and buses. Parking is often difficult as the infrastructure there is not enough to accommodate the number of daily motorists.

But quite frankly, it is really convenient to have your own car. Just be careful in driving. You may be conscientious but if others are reckless, then trouble can find its way.

Cheers! :-)