The US$53 million problem: Philippines launches move to unsnarl Manila’s huge traffic jams

The Philippines deployed over a hundred special police to the capital’s streets on Monday to try to ease a mammoth traffic problem said to be costing the country about US$53 million a day.

Police said 150 officers were assigned to six “chokepoints” on Metropolitan Manila’s main thoroughfare, the 24-kilometre Epifanio de los Santos Avenue, popularly known as EDSA.

Traffic jams in the capital of over 13 million people have become a major issue, with a growing number of commuters blaming the government of President Benigno Aquino.

“Hopefully, it will change things but traffic is a complex problem,” said Aquino’s spokesman Herminio Coloma. “There are short-term solutions but we also need long-term solutions.”

The head of the police highway patrol group, Chief Superintendent Arnold Gunnacao, told a Congressional forum that his men were making progress, getting illegally parked vehicles off the road and forcing drivers to be more disciplined.

A study by the Japan International Cooperation Agency, released in 2014, found that traffic jams in Metro Manila cost the country 2.4 billion pesos (US$53 million) a day and were responsible for most of the air pollution.