Traffic in Metro Manila
According to a "Global Driver Satisfaction" survey conducted by the navigation app Waze in 2015, Metro Manila had the "worst traffic on Southeast Asia". Emerson Carlos, MMDA assistant general manager for operation has mentioned that in 2015, motor vehicle registrations in Metro Manila peaked at around 2.5 million. Causes Infrastructure problems One of the primary causes of traffic density within Metro Manila is the current transportation infrastructure. Overall, there is a lack of quality infrastructure thus insufficient modes of mobility. The Duterte administration has promised that the coming years will be the, "golden age of infrastructure", with a record $168 billion to be spent on 5,000 projects across the nation”. Road network The road network of Metro Manila consists of radial (R-1 to R-10) and circumferential (C-1 to C-5) roads. These are the principal arteries within the city, however given the density of vehicles within the metropolis the roads have become inadequate. "Metro Manila only has 1 km of road per 424 vehicles." Furthermore, the roads are of poor quality and do not receive maintenance. For example, in the scope of the entire country, "Of the 31,400 km of national roads in the system, only about 45% (14,200 km) were assessed as being in good or fair condition in November 2011.” The railway system The current railways carry around 1.3 million passengers per day and spans in 4 different lines. In 1998, plans for a railway expansion were implemented however only of the planned was actually built. As such, there exists a lack of an adequate non-road-based public transportation system. This is made evident with the problem of overcrowding during peak hours, which is at 4:00pm to 5:00 pm. Road-based Public Transport In Metro Manila, a variety of road-based public transport, such as tricycles, taxis, buses, and jeepneys which are all privately owned "account for more than 50% of daily commuting trips, incur no subsidy, and with low productivity.” Meanwhile, "car travel accounts for 30% of person-km, but constitutes 72% of the road traffic in terms of PCU-km.” The high number of vehicles on the road, which could be attributed to the high population, is one of the contributors to traffic congestion. Urban planning problems According to renowned urban planner Felino Palafox Jr., Metro Manila used to be an example of good urban planning until the mid-1970s. Palafox cited gated communities within central business districts, and the decision of local government units within the metropolitan area to "throw away" the Metro Manila Zoning Ordinance in the 1990s, as contributors to Metro Manila's urban planning "mess". Urban area expansion The urban area of Metro Manila experiences a high growth rate in population, reaching a rate of . Within the period of 2000–2001, the city experienced a rate of 1.8%, resulting from the spillover of people from nearby towns, cities, and provinces. The urban planning of the city is not adequate vis a vis the high population density. Statistics show that the city must "accommodate about an additional two million to six