Metro Manila is notorious for having the most hellish traffic in the world. Based on the global evaluation which was conducted by Waze in 2015, Metro Manila, on the city level, was ranked number one while the entire Philippines was ranked as ninth as one of the worst places to drive. Everyday, motorists experience traffic at almost every road, especially in extremely busy areas such as Commonwealth Avenue, Katipunan Avenue (traffic during rush hours) and Quezon Avenue. Other business districts such as Ortigas City and Makati City. Some of the worse traffics are experienced along EDSA, near Cubao and the C5 road that has access to the most busiest districts of Metro Manila.
The Philippines is expected to lose up to six billion pesos a day by 2030 because of its horrendous traffic jams. According to Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), traffic congestion cost the Philippines around 2.4 billion everyday in 2012.
The traffic costs are based on a few factors, such as value of time due to delay, fuel costs, vehicle operating costs, impact on health and greenhouse gas emissions. Motorists can be held up in traffic for 1-2 hours from Commonwealth Avenue to Aurora Boulevard, which is a distance of about 15 kilometers /9.3 miles. The same distance and route should only take 25-30 minutes.
In 2015, the total motor vehicles in Metro Manila has peaked to 2.5 million, according to the Manila Standard. They mentioned that there are many factors that contribute to traffic, but the biggest one is the volume.
There are many Filipinos who come from other regions of the Philippines for work and they are the major contributors for daytime traffic. During the day in the same year, the population on the road increases to 14 million, which is around six times the registered vehicles in Metro Manila.
The traffic experienced by motorists everyday has both physical and psychological effects. The pollution from vehicles exhumed while people are stuck on the road, especially motorcycle riders are in high risk of getting respiratory complications.
Traffic can also cause negative psychological effects such as extreme stress and road rage. A recent incident involved a cyclist who was shot dead by a car driver.
This most likely happened because of neglect of traffic rules and the lack of traffic rules for each type of vehicle or mode of transportation.
In a report by Philstar, Senator Migz Zubiri made a proposal that the Philippines should build a form of elevated pathways for both pedestrians and other non-motorized transport and it should be connected to the existing foot bridges to ensure a safe route. Others propose that there should be a designated lane for both pedestrians and bikers on major roads for a better flow of traffic.