BBM wants holistic plan to solve MM traffic woes

With traffic gridlocks costing the economy billions of pesos, President Marcos has called for a "comprehensive" solution to the country's traffic woes and has directed agencies to come up with work adjustment plans, National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Secretary Arsenio Balisacan said yesterday.

- ALEXIS ROMERO

"What the President really wants is a comprehensive, holistic approach to solving the traffic problem - not the piecemeal approach as has been the case all these years," Balisacan said.

He cited the need to look at intermodal transport systems and see how they operate efficiently as a whole. He noted that the government is building a subway, expressways, and bridges linking provinces.

Such projects, he said, have to be seen in the context of all other transport systems including bicycle lanes, motorcycle lanes and feeder roads, as well as the location of industries and residences.

"If there is a chokepoint in one, it affects the whole system. That's why we really look at it as a system. And that's the direction of the President," Balisacan said.

In a statement, the Presidential Communications Office said the government has several ongoing infrastructure projects connecting Metro Manila cities to nearby provinces, including the North-South Railway project linking Metro 

Manila to Bulacan, Pampanga and Laguna; the Central Luzon Expressway connecting North Luzon Expressway, and the Bataan-Cavite Interlink Bridge.