How to keep your holiday cheer amid Metro Manila gridlock
Marcos Highway, which cuts through Pasig City, Marikina and Rizal, was the site of total pandemonium last week.
Motorists reported being stuck on the major thoroughfare for hours on end, while commuters achieved greater progress by using their own two feet to thread through the seemingly endless queue of vehicles. Officials blamed everything from large mall crowds to undisciplined drivers who wanted to get ahead at all costs.
But what occurred on Marcos Highway is just a headline of the daily agony that Filipino commuters and motorists suffer. The holiday rush has just exacerbated the confluence of factors that led to our overly congested roads – decades of poor urban planning, record car sales, dismal public transportation, insufficient driver training and inadequate traffic-law enforcement.
Although the government has put forward various band-aid solutions (including the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority’s absurd appeal for malls to, once again, postpone holiday sales), we are all in this mess until there is a major overhaul in the way we move people. Until then, here are our tips to extend your Christmas cheer on our roads.
Stay home
Avoiding going out altogether is certainly the most preferable option, but this obviously cannot apply to the many of us who must go out for work or errands.
But if it’s for something like hanging out with friends to watch a movie or eating at a nice restaurant for a date, then consider holding these off until the holiday madness has subsided (streaming services and delivery apps exist, remember). And let’s be honest – being together for hours in traffic is not exactly a healthy form of bonding.
But what about the holiday shopping? Sundays are generally a less taxing day to go out, but expect everybody (and their mother) to be in all of the malls as they also finish their yuletide preparations.
Wait it out
Rush hours are so named because practically everyone is out and about in certain times.
Remember that our roads are much more congested when people are arriving to or leaving their offices, whether they are commuting or driving. Indeed, the only people I know who can seemingly navigate Metro Manila’s gridlocked streets in a matter of minutes are cyclists (a great incentive to use non-motorized personal transportation, frankly).
But if you really must drive or ride, consider waiting out the rush hour in a mall, café or restaurant – these places are far nicer to watch the hours go by than in a sea of red taillights. Leaving late at night or very early in the morning is also advisable, especially if you have a flight to catch or an out-of-tow trip.
Navigate
In the olden days, we had to memorize alternate routes to avoid getting into gridlock (although road congestion was far less severe in decades past).
Navigation apps like Waze and Google Maps can find real-time routes for you (and even be groupchats for hapless motorists). But you must be wary because this fantastic technology is in the arsenal of every motorist, so you will likely all end up in the same alternate routes to avoid the same choke points.
Nonetheless, there are still routes that these new-fangled electronic maps miss out on. Asking locals (perhaps in one of your “tambay” coffee breaks) could yield exciting, new travel possibilities.
Demand better mobility
Since 2025 seems to be the year of not putting up with the government’s incompetence anymore (ahem, flood-control projects), why don’t we extend our holiday fury to mobility?
The Department of Transportation (DOTr) announced in November 2024 that it is crafting a public-transport master plan for 2025 to 2055, which will be funded by the $44-million (around P2.65 billion) financing that it applied for from the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank. This is in conjunction with the controversial Public Transport Modernization Program.
The DOTr is also in charge of the Active Transport Strategic Master Plan, which aims to reduce reliance on motorized vehicles by developing infrastructure and policies that cater to active transport like walking and cycling. It has identified six pilot-project sites: The National Capital Region, Puerto Princesa City, Iloilo City, Surigao City, Zamboanga City and Mati City.
Although we can certainly find ways to make our commutes more bearable, it is also down to us to ensure that the right people implement these projects logically and with transparency. Happy Holidays, fellow road warriors!
