DOTC seeks solution to Manila traffic as losses mount  

Metro Manila was tagged as the third worst metropolis in the world to drive in, prompting the Department of Transportation and Communication to review the situation as losses related to getting stuck in traffic ballooned to more than P130 billion last year.   “[DOTC] is set to bid out to qualified research groups a comprehensive urban transportation integration study on Metro Manila,” the department said in an emailed statement Wednesday.   It allotted P41 million for the study.   According to DOTC, the study will delve into updating the traffic situation and recommending ways to the enhance capacities in the Philippine capital.   It noted “... a need to update the transportation database for Metro Manila.”   The latest comprehensive look at Manila’s traffic condition, entitled “Metro Manila Urban Transportation Integration Study,” was done way back in 1996.   “[The news study] would support the development of traffic demand forecasts in order to come up with a public transportation plan for Metro Manila and the adjoining provinces of Laguna, Cavite, Rizal and Bulacan,” DOTC said, adding it would focus on current traffic conditions and passenger trip patterns.   Interested parties may apply with their proposals, but the department would accept only five entities to bid for the project on October 11.   Early this year, Cable News Network's CNNGo.com placed Manila as the world’s third worst city for driving. 2011 study   Earlier, Transportation and Communications Undersecretary Rene Limcaoco revealed that a report by the National Center for Transportation Studies (NCTS) showed that losses related to traffic congestion in Metro Manila alone amounted to P137.5 billion in 2011.   Last year’s estimates brought to P1.5 trillion the losses accumulated over the past 11 years due to traffic – excluding the P4.5 billion in fuel consumption.   The estimates were related to productivity, but the NCTS survey covered only losses related to government officials, professionals, technicians, clerical workers, and service workers. — VS, GMA News