Transport Advocates Press Idea of a National Transport Institute

On Tuesday, the government was urged by transport advocates to establish a National Transport Institute which could prompt a study on the movement of Filipinos within their communities. Through this, the advocates hope to shift the focus of mobility from vehicles to people. The Move As One Coalition, WeSolve Foundation, and Ateneo de Manila University’s Department of Interdisciplinary Studies have all offered to advise the government — at the national and local levels — on the collection of pertinent data on transportation.

Additionally, the National Transport Institute could also provide assistance to the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA), the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), and the Department of Transportation (DOTr) through training and funding which will likewise enable these agencies to collect useful information — such as household vehicle ownership, transport spending, bicycle counts, and commuting difficulty — on the movement of people.

“Initial estimates at the national level, a transport institute would cost ₱50M to ₱82M and would be home to 77 to 135 staff,” explained WeSolve Foundation associate Daniel Joseph Benito. “Wala pa po dito yung specific data collectors, kunwari may new survey to come up because we have to collect certain data, operation side yon, hindi pa kasama sa scope.” (“The specific data collectors are not included yet, suppose there is a new survey to come up because we have to collect certain data, that’s on the operation side, it is not covered in the scope.”)

Funding support should also be provided by the national government to local government units (LGUs) hoping to improve transportation for their constituents through their own data collection on “people-centric” mobility, added Ken Abante of the Department of Interdisciplinary Studies at the Ateneo de Manila University.

“In the first year of the pilot, around ₱202 million as the first-year grant to LGUs who would be willing to apply to this local transport capacity support fund,” he elaborated. Abante also furthered the fact that resources for transport have been limited, even for the most progressive LGUs like Bicol’s Naga City.

Naga City LGU staff Dominic Nobleza affirmed this, noting that their transport office was only comprised of one staff member and that improvements were only achieved following the assistance they received from the Move As One Coalition as well as other civil society groups.

“There is a need to take a look at the population of active transport, bigyan sila ng bike lanes, bike parking. Implementing budget, halos, almost nearing to zero. Nung nagkakaroon na ng measure of registered bikers, and nakita na ang activities, talagang nakita naman ng legislative body na kailangan bigyan ng budget.”

(“There is a need to take a look at the population of active transport, give them bike lanes, bike parking. Implementing budget was almost near zero. When a measure of registered bikers was seen, and the activities became evident, the legislative body really saw the need for a budget.”)

Abante elaborated that with the establishment of the National Transport Institute, collected data on people-centric mobility could serve to highlight the importance of moving people instead of vehicles and convince Congress. “Something as simple as a cycling count or biking count. In Naga from 181 in 2019 to 4,000 plus in 2021. In many hours (of the day), yung Bicol State College of Applied Science and Technology, there are even more bikes than cars at certain times of the day. This pushes LGUs to really take notice.”

Department of Transportation Senior Transport Development Officer Eldon Dionisio echoes similar sentiments when it comes to supporting LGUs, adding that this would allow them to accomplish these new directives and ensure that their policies keep up with best practices from around the world.

Source: ABS CBN