II.

Background of the Study

This area of the study will discuss books, articles, journals and
other related research that the researchers perceive to be of significance
to the study.

Books

Transport is a key sector in the Philippine economy, linking

population and economic centers across the islands. The transport
system of the Philippines consists of road, water, air, and rail transport.
Road transport is by far the dominant subsector accounting for 98% of
passenger traffic and 58% of cargo traffic. While the transport
infrastructure has been developed and spread across the country (about
215,000 kilometers [km] of roads, 1,300 public and private ports, and
215 public and private airports), the level of service has not been
sufficient due to the lack of sustainable financing. Improving transport
infrastructure is critical for strengthening the investment climate and
enhancing economic growth. The Philippines has seen modest
improvement in the quality of its transport services, but a large part of
the road network remains in poor condition and intermodal integration
is generally weak. Poor sector governance also impedes efficient
operation. As of 2011, the country’s road system comprised. (Asian
Development Bank, 2012. Philippines Transport Sector Assessment,
Strategy and Road Map. Mandaluyong City: Asian Development Bank)

Roads tend to be narrow and poorly built. As cities grow in an ad-

hoc manner, no provision is made towards scaling road capacities,
eventually resulting into several bottleneck roads, which remain
congested for extended periods of time. Furthermore, many developing
countries have witnessed an explosive growth in their vehicular
population resulting in a failure of conventional traffic management
strategies. Drivers often are not trained sufficiently to follow lane
discipline. The impact of poor lane discipline, especially at traffic
junctions, deteriorates the already overcrowded junction situation.
Furthermore, drivers frequently jump red lights and block the
intersection, causing further traffic congestion. These problems are
compounded by the fact that traffic law enforcement is poor, thereby
providing no incentive for drivers to follow the rules. (Hickman, L.
(2010). Welcome to the Worst Traffic Jam. The Guardian.)

The factors leading to congestion are varied, and congestion is

divided into two different types. The first is expected congestion while
the other is unexpected. Unexpected traffic is traditionally caused by
work zones, traffic accidents, or inclement weather, all of which are
challenging to avoid or mitigate. (Cohen, S. and Yannis, G., Traffic
Management, 2009)

Traffic Management measures are aimed at improving the safety

flow of traffic reducing traffic emissions and utilizing traffic artery
capacity more effectively. Traffic management is used to curb demand
for transport, route, or the time of travel or transport. (“Road Traffic
Management Strategy, p. 6, 2010)

There are several government agencies which deal with traffic

management. These agencies include the Metropolitan Manila
Development Authority (MMDA), Department of Transportation and
Communications (DOTC), Department of Public Works and Highways
(DPWH), Traffic Engineering Center, Philippine National Police-Traffic
Management Group, and the Land Transportation Office. According to
Lidasan as mentioned in a news report, poor coordination among
government agencies occurs since their functions and responsibilities
often overlap. The Philippine government has been pushing to improve
the transportation system in the country through various projects
(“Traffic Management”, 2009)
Web Articles

Traffic congestion is a condition on transport networks that occurs

as use increases, and is characterized by slower speeds, longer trip
times, and increased vehicular queueing. The most common example is
the physical use of roads by vehicles. When traffic demand is great
enough that the interaction between vehicles slows the speed of the
traffic stream, this results in some congestion. As demand approaches
the capacity of a road (or of the intersections along the road), extreme
traffic congestion sets in. When vehicles are fully stopped for periods of
time, this is colloquially known as a traffic jam or traffic snarl-up. Traffic
congestion can lead to drivers becoming frustrated and engaging in road
rage. Mathematically, congestion is usually looked at as the number of
vehicles that pass through a point in a window of time, or a flow. (Traffic
Congestion from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traffic_congestion)

The most common example for traffic congestion is the physical

use of roads by vehicles. When traffic demand is great enough that the
interaction between vehicles slows the speed of the traffic stream,
congestion is incurred. As demand approaches the capacity of a road (or
of the intersections along the road), extreme traffic congestion sets in.
Traffic congestion is one of the major problems that Lipa City is facing
now. Traffic congestion problem has a lot of effects to the local
community, economy, tourists, commuters and the local people. “The
Increasing Traffic Congestion in Lipa City: Concepts and, Ideas &
Programs to Improve Traffic Management” research will give
information and a solution or good a suggestion for the local government
that will ease the traffic congestion in Lipa City. (Definition for Traffic
Congestion. From www. Definitions.net/definition/traffic+congestion.)

Transportation in the Philippines is relatively underdeveloped,

partly due to the country's mountainous areas and scattered islands,
and partly as a result of the government's persistent underinvestment
in the nation's infrastructure. In recent years, however, the Philippine
government has been pushing to improve the transportation system in
the country through various infrastructure projects. Jeepneys are the
most popular mode of public transportation in the Philippines such as in
Lipa City wherein most of the commuters ride every day going to work,
school and malls; jeeps have also become a ubiquitous symbol of the
Philippine culture. Another popular mode of public transportation in Lipa
City is the motorized tricycle; Mostly people in Lipa City use tricycle to
go to their destination because motorized tricycle is more convenient to
ride. (Transportation in the Philippines from
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transportation_in_the_Philippines)

According to Census 2010, Lipa City’s population was placed at

283,468, second to Batangas City in the Province of Batangas. Five
years later, as per the August 2015 head count, the figure for Lipa had
risen to 332,386, higher than that of Batangas City. In other words, in
the five-year period between the two censuses, 48,918 people have
been added to the city’s population or an average of 9,784 (rounded)
per year. To be fair, the growth rate in that period was a meager 0.17%,
which is low by any standards. (Census2010)

The growth rate in Lipa City is reasonably low, immigrants

continue to be attracted by economic opportunities. Some of the people
would have arrived already with vehicles. Immigrants that did not would
have added to the demand for public utility vehicles. It can also be
assumed from the city’s economic growth also that many previous
residents who erstwhile would not have been able to afford to buy
vehicles were also able to do so in the interim five-year period. (Lipa
City’s Traffic and Congestion Explained in Numbers from
https://lifesomundane.net/2016/06/traffic.html)

The once peaceful and in order City of Lipa is fastly becoming a

highly urbanized and important City of CALABARZON with enormous
economic developments in the last 15 years. With these progression, it
seems that Traffic has never foreseen or if it was there has never been
any rightful solution yet that was implemented. With the influx of low to
high cost subdivisions, multinational companies, international and
national shops, and schools, Lipa City is drawing more people & vehicles
and is creating a growing issue on traffic congestion. In unofficial survey
in skyscraper city forum, it is believed that Lipa City is already ahead of
Batangas City in terms of population and will continue to be on top as
the year passes by if growth rate in the past years will remain the same
or pattern will continue to increase.
(http://lipastatus.blogspot.com/2015/06/opinion-traffic-worsening-
problem-in.html?m=1)

Related Studies/Thesis

Unlike in Batangas City which have a fixed traffic light system,

here in Lipa City, Manual Traffic Management and Manual Monitoring is
still being implemented. By the use only of deployed Traffic Management
Officers and radios to communicate, Officers manage the traffic flow.
Lipa City a large scale city in terms of population and vehicle population
will experience a high increase vehicle population which will result to
heavy traffic congestion in a daily basis in the near future. (Argosino, J.,
et al., 2017. Advance Traffic Management System)

Traffic has become a prevalent problem in the Metro Manila

However, people do not somehow realize the grievance of this issue that
can bring about many other inconveniences and problems in the future.
And with the traffic congestion problem in Lipa City, the the
responsibility of the government is to help reduce the problem, we as
citizens should help as well because it is we who created the problem in
the first place thus it is we who have the power to solve it as well.
Without the cooperation, discipline, and initiation that are needed for
this ideal to happen, then the wish of millions of Filipinos living in Metro
Manila for the traffic congestion to die down will never be granted.
(Kristensen, K., 2014, April 04, Proposed Reduction of Traffic in Manila)

The urban transportation system is the key of the economic

activities in all urban communities all over the world, consequently
sustains livelihood of the people living in the community. The big portion
consists of roads, Logically, most planning and research efforts have
focused on the road system. In essence, road transportation system is
the major player in the economic activities of most urban cemters.
(Cajefe, G. et al., 2017. Traffic Volume Study of Palico Balayan Road
From Bolbok To Bauan And Alternatives Routes In Banaba And Balete)

With the implementation of the City’s New Traffic Ordinance, public

utility jeepney routes thru color and number coding scheme have been
enforced. Parking areas and PUJ terminals have been designated for the
different routes. With the devolution of power to grant franchises for
tricycle operation from the Land Transportation Regulatory Board
(LTFRB) to the Batangas City Government, tricycle operators can now
apply for their franchise from the Transportation Development and
Regulatory Office under the Office of the City Mayor. Like the public
utility jeepneys, tricycles plying in the poblacion operates also through
a color coding system.

In 2013, the tricycle franchise issued by the LTO were 2,164 units
but only 1,394 units were with mayor’s permit. In an effort to address
the worsening traffic problems in Batangas City and with the traffic
problem of Lipa City, the city government has installed traffic signal
lights along the seven (7) major intersections which was implemented
in CY 1998 including the installation of one hundred twenty-three (23)
traffic signage’s. The city’s traffic signal lights were upgraded in 2010
by replacing them with LED traffic lights and electronic timer.
(Infrastructure & Utilities | Welcome to Batangas City. From
http://batangascitygov.h/bats2/?page_id=135)
 In the Philippines, most of the barangay roads are unpaved village-
access roads built in the past by the Department of Public Works and
Highways (DPWH), but responsibility for maintaining these roads have
now been devolved to the Local Government Units (LGUs). However,
despite having a large road network built over the country, large parts
of the road network continue to be in poor condition and only 20 percent
of the total road network is paved. Traffic jams and other traffic-related
problems are also cause by accidents and ongoing road constructions.
Beside these, undisciplined drivers, passengers and pedestrians, poor
traffic control system and poor implementation of traffic laws are the
most obvious causes of traffic congestion. (Hernandez, A. et al., 2017.
Traffic Management in San Pascual Batangas. Lyceum of the Philippiines
University)

Traffic signals are probably the most easily recognized traffic

control devices. In some busy intersections in a large city, a traffic signal
may control the movement of more than 100,000 vehicles per day. It
directs streams of vehicles and pedestrians when to go, stop, or proceed
with caution. The traffic signal is effective in reducing congestion and it
minimizes delay. (Amistad, F. and Regodir, J.R., 2007. The Need For
Traffic Signalization From The Perspective Of Local Government Units
Outside Metro Manila: An Assessment.)

Based on the details stated above, the researchers decided to

establish “The Increasing Traffic Congestion in Lipa City: Concepts,
Ideas & Programs to Improve Traffic Management” to improve the traffic
management we have now in Lipa City. The researchers decided to
adopt study in order to cope up with the fast growing and improving
technologies in traffic management. The opportunity of concepts, ideas
and programs to improve traffic management will result to better
managing and operating the transportation system to address
congestion comes from combining of ideas with a new focus on
operations with the help of transportation agencies such as City Public
Order and Safety in Lipa City.