Heavier traffic and the push to have a commuter-centric system

Metro Manila's roads have been choked with heavier-than-usual traffic in recent weeks, and the frustration is growing more palpable by the day.

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That's expected to get heaviest when the Christmas season rolls in, which is in September, only a week away. If today we are experiencing 90-minute travel to destinations that took less than an hour months ago, motorists and commuters can expect more hours wasted on the road.

The causes are complex-but not unfamiliar. Too many private cars. Not enough public transport. Shrinking road space due to informal street parking, sidewalk encroachment, and commercial activity spilling onto inner roads.

Add to that the Philippine capital's outdated urban design, which for decades has prioritized cars over people, and we now find ourselves in a gridlock crisis that no longer only clogs roads-it constrains lives.

But there's a glimmer of change which will come years - maybe even a decade - from now.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. recently addressed this issue, stating that the Philippines is actively shifting away from a "car-centric" transport model-a dramatic but necessary pivot for a country that has long equated progress with car ownership.