HAVE we reached the point where the purchase and ownership of vehicles need to be limited, in order to restore sanity to our streets? Frank Brazil, chief of the Lapu-Lapu City Traffic Management System, seems to think so.
In an interview with Sun.Star Cebu’s Rebelander Basilan, Brazil recommended experimenting with a number-coding scheme, as well as adopting more regulations on the sale and purchase of vehicles.
The numbers support his second suggestion. At least 130,930 additional private vehicles were registered in Central Visayas between 2010 and 2013, or more than 43,000 units each year. During the same period, the number of for-hire vehicles registered increased by only 5,185, or about 1,700 each year.
The next time we’re tempted to blame irresponsible taxi or jeepney drivers for the traffic jams that have become part of our daily lives, let’s remind ourselves that the rapid increase in private vehicle ownership is also to blame.
What Brazil suggests has also been proven effective in some cities abroad.
In Singapore, the cost of car ownership has been deliberately kept high in the past 25 years in order to limit the annual increase in the number of vehicles on the road. Prospective car owners must bid for a limited number of certificates that grant them the right to own a vehicle. Car owners also pay extra to enter a restricted zone where traffic is heaviest.
By introducing a similar vehicle quota system, Shanghai (which started in 1994) and Beijing (2011) have also slowed down the increase in the number of vehicles, the Sustainable Cities Collective reported. It said that as of late 2013, at least 100 cities worldwide were planning to adopt such quotas.
Less traffic and less pollution are among the more obvious benefits of a vehicle quota system. Add to that the reality that simply building more roads and parking spaces unfairly taxes those who do not own nor wish to own cars.
Yet like all urban management challenges, traffic requires more than a quick fix. Rather, several complementary solutions are called for. Programs to make the streets safer for bikers and pedestrians would be a good start. More efficient and more reliable public transportation systems should also be part of the equation.