Duterte Has Budgeted $7.5 Billion to Solve World’s Worst Traffic
Duterte Has Budgeted $7.5 Billion to Solve World’s Worst Traffic
(Bloomberg) -- The Philippines plans to build roads and bridges worth 380 billion pesos ($7.5 billion) to decongest the capital’s main highway, seeking to solve the world’s worst traffic.
More than 400,000 vehicles pass daily through Manila’s main road called EDSA, and President Rodrigo Duterte targets to reduce this by a third before his six-year term ends in 2022 by building alternative routes, Public Works Secretary Mark Villar said on Friday.
Road congestion has become an economic constraint for the Philippines, causing annual losses of $18 billion based on Asian Development Bank estimates. The Philippine capital region was seen by Waze as the world’s worst cities to drive in last year.
“It is only during the time of President Duterte that we see this ambitious plan to decongest the symbol of our infrastructure underinvestment,” Villar said at a forum touting the government’s achievements.
A 37.4 billion-peso expressway is set to open this quarter that’s seen to cut travel time from the capital’s north to south from 2 hours to 15 minutes, Villar said. Companies like San Miguel Corp. are also proposing solutions to Manila traffic, such as an elevated expressway along EDSA.
To contact the reporter on this story: Andreo Calonzo in Manila at acalonzo1@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Cecilia Yap at cyap19@bloomberg.net, Clarissa Batino
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