THE Philippines’ urbanization scene can be considered in a critical state already having the concentration of most of its 116 million population in the urban areas as supported by the recent statistics of the PSA. Experts estimate that in the year 2050, there will be 102 million Filipinos who will live in the cities. This is alarmingly double than our current figures. Some of the problems associated with urbanization more especially in a developing country like ours include high transaction costs, inefficiency, lack of innovative capacity among others.
But the most obvious effect of urbanization is traffic congestion. According again to statistics, Metro Manila, which is home to over 12 million people, is plagued by gridlock on its roads. This results to a very long commuting time which just not gives inconvenience to the people but also affecting numerous economic transactions. Data also revealed that the country is losing an estimated 3.5billion pesos daily due to traffic congestion. With this, investors would be very reluctant to take a chance in reaping the benefits of conducting their businesses in cities.
Whenever I am browsing over my social media pages, I am fond of reading socio-economic indicators of countries (at least in the ASEAN bloc) and it is very seldom that I see the Philippines as a frontrunner in some of the indicators that we can be proud of (i.e., GDP growth rate, countries with lowest inflation rates, etc.) Not until I came across with a social media post that I saw Philippines ranking number two. But the sad part is, we rank SECOND WITH THE WORST TRAFFIC SITUATION IN THE WORLD.
Now, talking about the factors that contribute to the worsening traffic situation, I personally believe that one of the key causes that has been worsening the country’s vehicle traffic situation lenient car purchase policies that we have here in the Philippines. As someone who has just owned a car due to bank financing, I am benefiting from this since if there will be stricter financing options in place, there is a slim chance that I can have the comfort and convenience of owning a car.
There is a saying that goes like this: comfort and convenience comes at a cost and some sort of sacrifice, and this proves to be true when it comes to lenient car ownership policies that we have now (i.e., getting approved to a car loan even without a garage, etc.).While these lenient car ownership policies provides opportunities for many to own cars, the government and the casas do it at the expense of contributing to the worsening traffic congestion. This goes to show that there really is a trade-off between individual comfort and convenience and collective well-being. Moreover, it only proves the power of capitalism over the interest of the greater society.
But what are the other causes of these steady increase of car ownership. We cannot deny the fact that we already have a growing middle class here in the Philippines amidst the economic crisis that the country is confronting. It is also worth noting that Philippines is ahead in terms of car ownership in Asia according to Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines. While we might say that there really are economic problems in our country brought about by political turmoil and disputes, it is safe to say that the surge in car ownership in the country can be an indirect indicator of a good national economy since a high purchasing power of people may signify it.
In the past years, financial institutions specifically banks have paved the way of easier car ownership thru rolling out low interest rates and extended payment offers. Truly, owning a car now is no longer a luxury but a realistic option and a necessity for middle income earners. But unfortunately, due to poor urban planning, the rising demand for cars aggravated by easy loan payment schemes by banks outpaces the capacity of our roads. Another thing that contributes to the malady is the unavailability of efficient public transportation system which leaves the commuters to choose owning a car instead. In other Asian countries, specifically in Singapore, the traffic condition is manageable, since its government, aside from having car ownership policies and interventions, has been very effective in rolling out convenient transportation options to the public.|
