On non-roadway traffic deaths and incidents
I found this interesting article about non-roadway crashes or incidents that may cause deaths. These are often recorded in buildings including parking lots or facilities but are not generally collected and reported by governments as part of road crash data.
Wilson, K. (April 18, 2024) “Why Does the Vision Zero Movement Stop At the Edge of the Road?,” Streetsblog USA, https://usa.streetsblog.org/2024/04/18/why-does-the-vision-zero-movement-stop-at-the-edge-of-the-road [Last accessed: 4/28/2024]
From the article:
“According to the latest report from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, a shocking 3,990 people died in car crashes that occurred outside of the traditional transportation space in 2021, the last year for which data is available. One-quarter of those people were outside vehicles, including, pedestrians, cyclists, wheelchair users, and even children simply wishing their parents goodbye before they were accidentally run over by the caregivers who loved them most; all lost their lives after they were struck by drivers on private property, like parking lots, driveways, drive-thrus, and private roads.”
These crashes very likely contribute to under-reporting. One wonders, for example, how many incidents occur in mall parking lots, schools and subdivisions. Recall the incident in Ateneo years ago when a child got ran over and killed as students were being dropped off in the morning. Surely there are other incidents though not involving deaths, and these need to be recorded among traffic incidents. The deaths need to be included in the reports. These are important information to complete the picture of road traffic safety in any country including the Philippines.
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A widened Col. Bonny Serrano Avenue and opportunities for complete streets
Col. Bonny Serrano Avenue is one of the major roads directly connecting EDSA (C-4) and C.P. Garcia Avenue (C-5). The last time I used the road was before the pandemic. So it came as a surprise to pass by last weekend and see the avenue had been widened. I guess that pretty much “solved” the traffic along this usually busy thoroughfare that is part of jeepney routes to Cubao (via Murphy – referring to Camp Aguinaldo, which was formerly Camp Murphy). The avenue was renamed after a Korean War Hero (my uncle fought under him with the 10th Battalion Combat Team in the Korean War in the 1950s). It was called Santolan Road before.
What used to be a 4-lane road is now an 8-lane road
The area used for road widening was carved out of Camp Aguinaldo. The headquarters of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) gave up quite a lot of square meters for this project and you can see from the photo the now very wide avenue. I thought perhaps they could have placed a median island where they could have also planted some trees (note how exposed to the sun the area is). They also could have designed protected bike lanes along either side of the road. These could have connected the EDSA and C5 bike lanes. And, of course, they should have also improved the pedestrian sidewalks. You can see how narrow the sidewalks are and how electric and light posts block pedestrians using the sidewalks. There were opportunities here for the application of complete streets and its not too late to do just that.
I assume there are many men in uniform who use bicycles for their commutes and recreation. Camp Crame is just across EDSA from Camp Aguinaldo and Bonny Serrano Avenue also passes along the headquarters of the Philippine National Police (PNP). Down the road towards Marikina City in Libis is another camp, Camp Atienza, which is home to the 51st Engineering Brigade of the Philippine Army. I mention these camps as I know many there regularly use Bonny Serrano for commuting and many use bicycles. A cousin-in-law (my wife’s first cousin) who is an army officer bikes a lot from Camp Atienza and Camp Aguinaldo and tells me there are many enlisted men who bike to work.
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Article share: on making more affordable neighborhoods
I’ve been commenting about how transportation cannot be isolated and the need to relate it to other factors such as housing or home location choice. The latter though is also affected by other factors as well that affect the affordability of homes near the city centers or CBDs where workplaces and schools are located. The result of course is sprawl or the encouragement of sprawl. Private companies take advantage of this or contribute to this ‘encouragement’ by developing land farther away from the center. Thus, for Metro Manila’s case, many people reside in the peripheral provinces of Bulacan, Rizal, Laguna and Cavite. There are even those who choose to reside in Pampanga, Bataan and Batangas.
Kayatekin, C.S. and Sanmiguel, L.U. (April 16, 2024) ” ‘Urban form’ and the housing crisis: can streets and buildings make a neighborhood more affordable?” The Conversation, https://theconversation.com/urban-form-and-the-housing-crisis-can-streets-and-buildings-make-a-neighbourhood-more-affordable-224108 [Last accessed: 4/23/2024]
Quoting from the article:
“Our main finding was that the bottom-up districts we looked at had, overall, more small-scale apartments. The reason is simple: they had more small-scale buildings, built on small-scale plots. Once divided into apartments, this produces small apartments – homes in the bottom-up areas were 10% to 23.1% smaller than their top-down counterparts. This also made their real estate markets for small homes more competitive, and therefore more affordable.
However, our study showed there is nothing inherently magical about bottom-up areas. Their more intricate housing stock has little to do with the layout of streets and blocks, and a lot to do with how that land is built upon.
Plot size appears to be the deciding factor: the districts with greater numbers of small buildings built on small plots supported a denser and more affordable housing stock, regardless of whether they were top-down or bottom-up.
Older bottom-up areas seem to naturally lend themselves to having more small-scale plots. This is likely due to the incremental development of these areas, and the complex land ownership patterns that developed as a result. However, there is no reason why a top-down area cannot be designed to replicate these characteristics.”
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When Driving Isn’t an Option: Steering Away From Car Dependency
Here is another quick share of an article from Planetizen. The article relates about people who cannot drive so driving for them is not an option:
Source: When Driving Isn’t an Option: Steering Away From Car Dependency
Quoting from the article:
“Zivarts shows that it is critical to include people who can’t drive in transportation planning decisions. She outlines steps that organizations can take to include and promote leadership of those who are most impacted—and too often excluded—by transportation systems designed by and run by people who can drive. “
There are actually many who can drive and who would like not to drive but then opt to drive because of limited and inconvenient or uncomfortable options. I think government agencies and local government units are supposed to work on this but like people who try to ‘solve’ traffic by isolating it from other factors such as housing, they ultimately gain little ground if not fail. It doesn’t help that the decision makers such as government officials and politicians drive or are driven. Of course, there is still such a thing as empathy so let’s not discount those who do use cars for their commutes but also work hard to improve transportation. It’s just that such people are rare these days and may not be in a position to move things to enable significant improvements to the transportation system.
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‘Modern’ jeepneys in Cebu
The jeepney is actually a jitney, a paratransit mode with a capacity between the bus and the mini-bus. Jitneys are quite popular in developing countries like those in Southeast Asia and Africa. In the Philippines, the jeepney evolved from the American Jeeps left by US Forces after World War 2 that were customized in the style of the auto calesas that developed before the war.
With the government’s public transport modernization program, there are now many so-called ‘modern’ jeepney models operating around the country. The following are photos I took while doing fieldwork in Mandaue City.
Many modern jeepneys are actually mini or micro buses like the one in the photo. They did not retain or adopt the look of the conventional jeepneys. This one is a model by Japanese automaker Hino. The one behind is another jitney form – a multi cab.
Another modern jeepney / mini bus model manufactured by another company. I have to check which company given the emblem in front of the vehicle.
Another Hino vehicle but by a different operator as evident in the livery.
Another mini bus model
A low floor bus operated by Ceres, a major bus company in the country that also operates RORO buses.
Another modern jeepney model operated by another coop in Mandaue.
Star 8 jeepneys are also operating in Mandaue City. I first saw these in Tacloban City many years ago. They were supposed to be able to recharge via solar panels installed on the roof the vehicle. That should allow them to replenish power while running. These days, we do have a lot of sun so the only question is whether the solar power feature is functional.
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Planning for Accessibility: Proximity is More Important than Mobility
Here is a quick share of another very informative article that discusses the importance of proximity and more dense development in order to reduce car dependence.
Source: Planning for Accessibility: Proximity is More Important than Mobility Â
Here are some excerpts from the article:
“This shows that proximity is much more important than mobility in providing accessibility: location, location, location. For the last century, our transportation planning practices have contradicted this principle. Transportation agencies built urban highways that destroyed and degraded accessible and multimodal neighborhoods to benefit suburban motorists. This was racist and classist, but the mechanism was the way that transportation planners valued increased traffic speeds, measured as travel time savings, while ignoring the loss of accessibility imposed on urban neighborhood residents.
Of course, many other factors affect people’s transportation and neighborhood preferences. Some people need their cars for work or after-work activities, and not everybody can bicycle or use transit even if it is available. However, surveys such as the National Association of Realtor’s National Community Preference Survey indicate that many people would prefer living in more compact, walkable neighborhoods than they currently do but cannot due to a lack of supply.”
Such articles are a must read for those who want to understand why government needs to invest in land at or near the CBDs, and develop that land so people will not need to reside far from their workplaces and schools. Truly, there are many other factors affecting transport preferences or mode choice. Housing is one such factor that we continue to treat separately from transport. It is very (prohibitively) expensive to buy or rent in the city particularly in or near the CBDs. The result is people opting to purchase or rent homes in the suburbs. It doesn’t help that developers are also actively promoting subdivisions there and therefore are contributing to sprawl that puts so much pressure on transportation systems.
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A risky mode choice – recumbent bike
I spotted this cyclist along Ortigas Avenue Extension. He would be hard to notice considering how low the vehicle is and his position astride the bicycle.
Man on a recumbent bike probably on his daily commute. Note the bike and its rider as compared with the small truck.
The problem is concerning his visibility to regular or typical road users. He might not be visible for the larger vehicles like trucks and buses, even jeepneys and vans whose drivers may be distracted by other vehicles in the traffic mix.
Comparison with a typical cyclist, who is quite visible as shown in the photo
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Counterflow irony along Ortigas Avenue Extension, Pasig City
One Friday, I traveled to Ortigas Center from Antipolo via the most direct route using Ortigas Avenue Extension. I was not surprised by the counterflow scheme being implemented starting from De Castro all the way to Rosario Bridge. I was also not surprised that the more congested lane was the counterflow lane. I thought everyone expected the main traffic lanes to be congested as PUVs like jeepneys, buses and vans usually create bottlenecks as they block traffic while passengers board/alight along that section of Ortigas Avenue Extension. Here is what you might encounter in terms of traffic if you opt to stay along the westbound traffic lanes:
Traffic before the Manggahan floodway bridge at what was generally called Mariwasa. The Filinvest residential development on the left used to be the Mariwasa tiles plant.
Traffic after the crossing the bridge. Note the pedestrian overpass in the photo.
Meters after and near the overpass, you can already see the build-up in the Rosario area
The Rosario bridge area is usually congested not just because of the PUV operations but also because there is the junction of Ortigas Avenue Extension and Amang Rodriguez Avenue, which is another major thoroughfare connecting this area to other parts of Pasig, Quezon City and Marikina City.
I will post about the counterflow scheme in Bangkok in the next post.
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Cebu Pacific’s leased aircraft from Bulgaria Air
While boarding our plane on the return flight to Manila from Cebu, I noticed that the aircraft was all white and no livery. I learned later that the plane we flew on was a leased aircraft. Cebu Pacific leased A320’s from Bulgaria Air as it expanded its fleet to meet the demand for air travel. Apparently, the agreement included Cebu Pacific also announcing that passengers were flying via Bulgaria Air but operated by Cebu Pacific.
The plane was not a Philippine registered aircraft (RP). Instead, it had LZ on its body. I Googled LZ and learned this was registered in Bulgaria.
The safety instructions were in Cyrillic and English
The sign for the life vest is also in Cyrillic and English.
Here is the plane as we boarded our bus transporting us from the tarmac to NAIA Terminal 3. Other deplaning passengers had to wait for the next bus.
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Airline food on Thai Airways
We booked Thai Airways for our flight to Bangkok. We had initially looked into both Philippine Airlines and Cebu Pacific thinking they would be cheaper, especially Ceb Pac, which is supposed to be a low cost carrier (LCC) or a budget airlines. They both turned out to be expensive so I suggested to the wife to check out Thai Airways since we were spending anyway and we wanted to have the full service that included decent inflight meals. Lo and behold, Thai Airways was actually cheaper than PAL or CebPac (note that we booked early so we had a lot of options for the latter airlines).
Our Thai Airways Airbus A350 at the NAIA Terminal 3. Also shown in the photo is the old Philippine Village Hotel building that surprisingly has not been demolished despite being abandoned for more than 3 decades. This is the proposed site of a Terminal 5 for NAIA that will be constructed and operated by San Miguel Corporation.
We had two choices for our inflight meal – stir-fried shrimp with chili sauce and rice or chicken in tomato sauce with pasta.
The stir-fried shrimp with chili sauce came with carrots and young corn on the side. The set included salad, cake for dessert and a bun.
The only difference between the set was the main course. This is the chicken and pasta I eventually ate when I exchanged meals with my daughter who surprised us by preferring the spicy shrimp.
The A350 was equipped with a tail camera for those who wanted this view of the plane. I took a video of when the plane landed to show my students about the landing including when the plane exited the runway via the rapid exit ramp.
We thought the food on economy class was okay and definitely better than what could have been served on either PAL or CebPac. What are better (on economy) if not similar in quality would be the food on Singapore Airlines and Japan Airlines.
More on our travel to Thailand in the next posts.
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Caught (up) in traffic 