After three or four years, traffic in Metro Manila and suburbs had become somewhat tolerated by Filipinos and barely got ranked the worst in the world, until the attendance last week to the UK-group Coldplay’s concert of President Marcos Jr. and First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos.
And this phenomenon got played up in social media by netizens who posted the helicopter used by the First Couple to ditch the traffic of thousands of vehicles that remained clogged in the roads leading to the Philippine Arena.
Even band frontman Chris Martin in showing his appreciation to his audience for braving such traffic, expressed his exasperation at the situation.
“We've seen some traffic. But I think you have the number one [traffic] in the world. Thank you for making the effort...to be here," he said.
‘Worst in the world’
The TomTom Traffic Index of 2023 cited Manila’s traffic as the "worst in the world" for a metro area, with an average travel time per 10 kilometers of 25 minutes and 30 second versus 24 minutes and 50 seconds in 2022.
The percentage of congestion in the bustling Philippine capital was seen at 52 per cent last year.
Metro Manila, or the National Capital Region (NCR), is home to nearly 14 million inhabitants and ranks among the world's most densely populated places, the report said.
Manila residents and visitors spent 240 hours –10 days – on the road in the past year, enduring 117 hours in slow-moving rush-hour traffic at just 19 km/h, the index reported.
TomTom estimates this time could have been used to read about 48 novels during the 10 days and 21 hours stuck in traffic.
Manila's worst travel day in 2023 was December 15, with an average 31 minutes and 50 seconds to cover 10 kilometers.
Manila had just taken the No.1 spot on the list of worst cities in the world, according to the report.
As a result carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in 2023 reached 1,027kg, with 304 kg attributed to traffic, necessitating planting 103 trees annually for environmental offset.
Metro Manila overtook Bogota, Colombia, which now dropped to No. 5.
After Manila, rounding up the Top 5 are: Lima, Peru’s capital (24 minutes and 20 seconds); Bengaluru, India (23 minutes and 50 seconds); Sapporo, Japan (23 minutes and 30 seconds); Bogota, Colombia (23 minutes and 30 seconds).
Mumbai and Pune in India are ranked 7th and 9th while Japan's Nagoya was rated 10th, followed by Tokyo, Japan; Geneva, Switzerland and Brussels, Belgium within the top 15.
In 55 nations across six continents, 387 cities were chosen and ranked by the TomTom Traffic Index.
The Department of Transportation (DOTR) said it would expedite road projects. It said NCR’s ranking “poses a challenge” for the agency and the entire government.
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