Chapter II

Background of the Study and Related Literature

Traffic has become a nightmare in the Philippines. No one of any age, race,

nationality, social status, and religion can escape the wrath of congested roads due to

the overpopulation of cars. It has been recognized as one of the primary problems of

the country; and a very hard problem to solve at that. With about two million people

living in Quezon province, traffic is undoubtedly inevitable. However traffic can be

reduced by promoting mass transportation, carpooling to work, and construction of

better and wider roads to encourage the citizens to walk or bike. Also overpopulation

leads to traffic since most of these people use vehicles to get to their destination every

day. Furthermore, the mainstream use of narrow roads also contributes to the problem.

Skinny roads can be very hard to fit hundreds of vehicles that pass it on a daily basis. It

can tighten the traffic since it can only accommodate a certain amount of cars. Lastly,

the disobedience of drivers is also a cause of traffic. Most drivers would only think about

themselves and what would benefit them instead of thinking about the others. Cutting,

taking over cars and disobeying the road signs are only a few of the many things that

drivers do on the road which brings inconvenience to the other drivers that are affected

by these actions which can then lead to traffic.

Traffic is one of the enormous problems of every people nowadays and various crimes

happen because of the traffic. According to Shehayeb (2008). She stated that the

importance of providing a sense of security among the people in the public spaces
cannot be underestimated. The author explained that the feeling of insecurity can make

people make anti-social and cause stress-related outcome. (p.107). hence, there is a

need the maintenance of peace and order in the community. To provide a secure feeling

as well as safety in the roads. At the barangay level the maintenance of peace and

order provides security to the residences. Thus in order to strengthen peace keeping in

communities, barangay peace and order committee is created in accordance to

executive order number 366 (1996). Different strategies, processes and operations are

used by the peace and order committee to attain its goals. One of these operations is

the Foot Patrol. As suggested in a study held in Philadelphia, foot patrol may be

considered a good way to decrease crime related concerns if it is intelligence-lead. In

other words, foot patrol effectiveness in handling security will be more guarantied if the

selection of target areas in foot patrol is thoroughly studied. The findings show that

there is a decrease of violent crimes; however the decrease does not suggest that it

completely deter crimes (Ratcliffe 2011 p. 795-831). So, even though it is not the best

solution in preventing crime related violence, foot patrols can still decrease crime.

Therefore, this strategy is still helpful in managing peace and order.

Another major strategy of the subject barangays in this study is the implementation of

Close Circuit Television cameras or better known as CCTV. All of the Barangays has

already installed CCTV. In a previous study held in Colchester Town Center analyzed

the effectiveness of CCTV. One of the main findings suggests that it is effective but not
in crime prevention. The CCTV is not successful in preventing crimes from occurring. It

does not affect the way people behave and does not stop people from offending as the

public simply do not think about it and it does not cause any fear. It is however

successful in detecting crime and dealing with crimes when they are happening rather

than deterring them (Crawley p.33). Indeed installment of CCTV cannot assure that

there will be a decrease in crimes. However CCTV certainly helps in monitoring

surroundings with greater efficiency since it is maintained 24/7. So installment of CCTV

provides a big benefit in terms of peace keeping management.

Clogged roads are a part of every commuters struggle, as the morning rush

brings intense traffics in the busy streets and intersections. Commuters spend too much

time on their trips, private vehicles spend too much for fuels, drivers and conductors

work long hours to met their boundary, society suffers from heavily polluted air. An

individual who is stuck on the road may experience headaches, migraines, and dry

cough in terms of health. In fact, a 2012 study in the American Journal of Preventive

Medicine found that people who stay longer driving in traffic tend to have the high blood

pressure and weight gain. Furthermore, longer commuting entails a person to have

done less physical activity which can bring about other health consequences aside from

the mentioned. According to the study of the World Bank recently, Commuting strain is

associated with feelings of nervousness and tension, physical pain and stiffness,

irritability and fatigue, and poorer performance and satisfaction at work have all been

psychologically linked to traffic as it intensifies these feelings. Moreover, pollution is also

an effect of the problem. Having many vehicles on the road can bring about pollution to

the area. According to EarthTrends (2003), the leading source of air pollution comes
from transportation vehicles as they produce 34% of the carbon dioxide emissions in

Metro Manila. As stated by Nice and Bryant (2000), the stoichiometric ratio of an

average car that is using gasoline is 14.7:1. This means that for every pound of gasoline

produced and released from the vehicle, 14.7 pounds of air will be burned. That is only

for one car and we have yet to consider the other thousands of vehicles being used

every day. We can just imagine how much carbon dioxide is being emitted that will

eventually destroy our planet and the people living in it.

Strategies to reduce congestion and improve reliability-focus on operations: (1)First

adding more base capacity- (Increasing the number and size of highways and providing

more transit and freight rail service. This can include expanding the base capacity (by

adding additional lanes or building new highways) as well as redesigning specific

bottlenecks such as interchanges and intersections to increase their capacity.(2)

Second, operating existing capacity more efficiently-(Getting more out of what we

have).and lastly encouraging travelers to use the system in less congestion-producing

ways. (Cambridge Systematic Inc., 2004).

Traffic conditions is alarming the right thing to do is efficient and orderly movement of

people. Traffic engineering has a purpose to design roadway facilities to lessen the

accidents and congestion. ( Major Benjamin N. Calderon ,1979)Traffic congestion now

days is a new problem but some believe that traffic congestion must be fixed.

(Elizabeth Weinstein, 2002). According to Cambridge systematic Inc (2004), they had
presented some strategies to reduce the traffic congestion and improve the reliability

focus. They also identified the causes of traffic. To avoid the crisis, other cities and other

part of the world managed to follow the ideal trend by investing in their transport

infrastructures on time. The traffic congestion is cause by illegal parking in the national

road, the loading and unloading of passengers, beating the red light, and wrong way

driving also with lots of unregistered and registered vehicles in the area, lack of roads

and overpopulation, unbuilt roads are also worsening the congestion.

According to Dr. Corpuz Mendoza, the immediate step that should be taken is

called high levels of enforcement of traffic rules, this is a easy grasp as most of

complain of many traffic infractions that cause traffic build up. We all have vented our ire

at public utility vehicles that stop at corners despite a green light to pick up passengers,

people who own cars but no garages and therefore park their vehicles on even national

roads, business establishments that encroach on sidewalks, jaywalking, people playing

basketball in the middle of the street, politicians and religious institutions closing down

major roads for their celebrations and so on.

The good example of that is having a traffic cops in Edsa, it is resulted in immediate and

significant improvement in traffic. While it is an immediate solution but it takes a month.

Traffic enforcers with no police powers need to be replaced with traffic police. These

police need to be fully trained specifically for the job of traffic management and the

enforcement of traffic laws. More importantly, corruption in the police force that allows

violations like prolonged and illegal parking or even the setting up of semi-permanent

commercial stalls on sidewalks and side streets is necessary. One of the solutions is

continuing traffic education for every citizen that can include modules included in the
new K12 curriculum. She notes that current efforts at driver education are sorely

inadequate and that it is not just drivers but everyone who needs to be educated on

proper road use.

The barangays and LGUs must step-in in easing traffic problem, According to Senator

Aquilino Koko Pimentel III, barangay officials should be tapped to man critical local

intersections and thoroughfares and must have experience and familiarities of their

respective areas to became effective traffic enforcers. Pimentel III, proposed that the

traffic authority try out barangay officials in carefully picked pilot areas, According to

Pimentel III, In our continuing search for solutions to the traffic gridlocks we have to

engage in our barangay chiefs who have intimate knowledge of their locality, they are

in the best position to help direct traffic in streets of their respective areas. Pimentel

also said that do not convert the streets into basketball court, parking lots or venues for

social parties to ensure the traffic flow unimpeded. Some major street have been closed

to traffic for a long time because of permanent structures like basketball courts and de

facto due to parked vehicles.

Sure there are a lot of cars on the road, but just to say thats what causes traffic

congestion is overly simplistic. Yet thats what many believe. Just get rid of all the cars,

encourage the use of bikes by building more bike lanes, and improve mass transit, and

all our congestion problems will be solved. We will all be healthier breathing in fewer

pollutants and we all would be better off. Hogwash.

Now Im not saying that bikes arent good exercise (that is, if you dont get killed riding

one) or that pollutants arent harmful. That part is true. However, the automobile is not

the villain, and mass transit or bicycles are not the saviors either. A balanced

transportation system is the answer. Yet we have those who believe that in the absence

of extending subway lines or reactivating unused rights-of way, which many believe are

cost prohibitive, we must greatly expand our Select Bus Service (SBS) network into any

place in which we once wanted to build a subway. Also, all streets should have their

traffic lanes reduced with the addition of bike lanes, wider sidewalks and the planting of

trees in the center of the street.

What will happen in 30 or 40 years when those trees planted in those tiny center malls

grow and become obstacles to visibility for turning vehicles? Do we then destroy them

or turn the street into pedestrian and bike malls, banning automobile traffic entirely? Or

has anyone not thought that far ahead? Most likely the choice would be to destroy the

trees or severely prune them unless by then we are all telecommuting or traveling with

our rocket jet packs. In that case I would favor pedestrian malls everywhere.

The truth is that traffic congestion is caused by multiple causes and here they are not in

the order of importance.

1- Too many cars for the roadway due to inadequate mass transit options or other

reasons.

2- Obstacles in the road causing a blockage and merger. These can be any of the

following:
 Double parking

Road work

Lane closure due to utility work

Road narrowing down

An accident

3- Traffic signals out of sync many times on purpose or occasionally when the

computers are malfunctioning.

4- Inadequate green time

5- Too many pedestrians crossing not permitting cars to turn

6- Too many trucks on the road due to inadequate rail freight opportunities

7- Overdevelopment in areas where the mass transit system is already overcrowded

and the road system is inadequate.

Sometimes it is the driver who insists on driving his car even if mass transit makes more

sense. But that is more the exception than the rule. People usually tend to do what

makes the most sense for them. If driving will save them 20 minutes or a half hour, and

they can afford the parking, thats what they will do. I dont see anything wrong with that.
Sometimes DOT is to blame by purposely making the signals out of sync (turning your

signal green and the following red at the same time forcing you to just miss it). The DOT

believes this will improve safety, especially around school zones, by forcing everyone to

start and stop. However, in reality, all it does is increase air pollution, waste gas and

time, and cause cars to illegally speed up just catch two green signals in a row, which

would be otherwise impossible, thereby increasing danger not reducing it. There is

probably nothing more frustrating to a driver than to take 10 or 15 minutes just to travel

10 short blocks without any traffic, but because of ill-timed signals, increasing frustration

and possibly road rage. It also makes no sense for the traffic signals to force you to

slow down around schools at 8:00 a.m., which they do.

Sometimes, it is the MTA that is not doing all it should do to improve local bus

service such as not providing extra buses to beaches when needed, or operating too

many buses not in service at the same time that overcrowded buses are bypassing

stops, thus encouraging automobiles and dollar vans to create further congestion.

How Do We Fix The Problem?

If you want drivers to leave their car at home, then give them better options. Dont

blame them for looking out for their own self-interest. Build a subway line if thats what

makes sense. Give them a direct bus route if a subway cannot be justified, or at least a

trip that can be made by taking two bus routes or even three. But dont then tell them

that third bus will cause them an extra fare and call them villains for driving or hailing a

cab. Also, allow them legal spaces for kiss and ride and increase park and ride
opportunities so they wont have to drive all the way. Add motorcycles racks to buses

or allow bicycle parking in subway stations like they do.

Dont tell drivers you will be further reducing the roadway (causing them more

congestion) because you are installing an SBS route. And dont, then, neglect to

mention they will still have to transfer to at least another bus or train or perhaps two

more buses in order for them to take advantage of the new SBS route, so in the end

they still will need their car. SBS has its place, but too many think of it as some sort of

panacea when it is not. There are bus routing deficiencies that have existed for 70

years, which, if corrected, could save more time than SBS, yet rarely does anyone

address those. Now, lets discuss how to fix the causes of congestion.

1- We could have fewer cars and trucks on the road by increasing mass transit options

and encouraging rail freight.

2A- Police should give tickets to double parking that causes traffic congestion and not

merely view summonses as a means to raise revenue.

2B- Schedule as much roadwork as possible for the middle of the night or when the

road is not busy, although there always will be some roadwork that causes some

congestion.

2C- Also, try to minimize disruptions from utility work. I was once delayed 20 minutes on

Street when morning because only three vehicles were able to cross First Avenue

during each traffic cycle due to the utility work. A traffic agent, if posted there, could
have allowed vehicles to cross on a red signal, eliminating most of the delay since First

Avenue traffic was very light at that time.

2D- Unless the road is widened, which may not be feasible, little can be done here

except perhaps banning parking to increase traffic flow.

2E- Again, all we can do regarding accidents is to try to prevent them. Once they occur,

traffic congestion usually cannot be avoided if traffic volumes are high.

3- Do not intentionally put traffic signals out of sync causing unnecessary congestion.

However, even when they are in sync, congestion can be caused along intersecting

streets because their green time has been reduced. In those cases, parking can be

banned during those hours, adding a traffic lane near the intersection for right turning

vehicles. When a computer failure causes out of sync signals, a smooth sailing roadway

can be instantly turned into a parking lot with the same number of vehicles. Fortunately,

that problem is usually corrected in a few hours.

4- If there is inadequate green time, that should be corrected, if possible, which may not

be that easy to do.

5- The only way to reduce the numbers of pedestrians crossing at an intersection is to

either add a mid-block crossing or build a pedestrian overpass.

6- Increase rail freight opportunities to remove truck traffic from the roads, especially the

BQE.

7- Add more trains and buses or dont overdevelop.

I stated that mass transit is no savior. That is because, for certain trips, the automobile

still remains the best way to go if the densities are not great enough to support

subways, light rail or buses. This is something bicycle advocates will never admit.

Buses also can cause their own congestion without off-street bus terminals. The days of

constructing new highways are over for most metropolitan areas. That does not mean

we should not be removing bottlenecks by adding lanes at strategic locations as DOT

has recently done near. I have provided at least 10 causes of traffic congestion and

many solutions. In some instances little can be done. However, too many cars are only

one cause of traffic congestion. But its not the only one.Long the bane of motorists and

residents, the perennial traffic problem here has finally caught the attention of the citys

top official.Local businessmen, residents and concerned motorists have complained that

traffic ordinances, particularly those delineating no-parking zones along major streets,

have long been ignored by irresponsible motorists.

Various crimes happen in every society. Crimes can be considered petty such as theft or

it can be heinous such as kidnap and murder. Therefore in order to minimize the

occurrence of crimes, maintaining peace and order is essential. This is where the role of

the police and military comes in. These organizations are the hands of the government

in handling the maintenance of overall peace and order in the country.

Security is one of the things that every individual expect in its immediate community.

Security is a feeling, according to Shehayeb (2008). She stated that The importance of

providing a sense of security among people in public spaces cannot be

underestimated. The author explained that the feeling of insecurity can make people

anti-social and cause stress-related outcome (p. 107). Hence, there is a need for the

maintenance of peace and order in the community to provide a secure feeling as well as

safety for the residents.

At the barangay level the maintenance of peace and order provides security to the

residences. Thus in order to strengthen peace keeping in communities, barangay peace

and order committee is created in accordance to executive order number 366 (1996).

Different strategies, processes and operations are used by the peace and order

committee to attain its goals. One of these operations is the Foot Patrol. As suggested

in a study held in Philadelphia, foot patrol may be considered a good way to decrease

crime related concerns if it is intelligence-lead. In other words, foot patrol effectiveness

in handling security will be more guarantied if the selection of target areas in foot patrol

is thoroughly studied. The findings show that there is a decrease of violent crimes;

however the decrease does not suggest that it completely deter crimes (Ratcliffe 2011

p. 795-831). So, even though it is not the best solution in preventing crime related

violence, foot patrols can still decrease crime. Therefore, this strategy is still helpful in

managing peace and order.

Continuous campaign to maintain peace and order in the municipality are being

intensified and sustained. The police officers try their best in ensuring that the people of

live peacefully no matter how probable is the existence of emerging threats to the peace

and prosperity of the municipality and its people as in any other places in the country.

Lawless elements must not be allowed to roam the streets freely and an effective and
efficient peace and order program in partnership with uniformed police must be

implemented. Discipline on the streets and in the communities shall be encouraged with

the cooperation of all the productive and responsible sectors of the society. There is no

greater satisfaction than knowing that the residents can productively work, enjoy the

fruits of their labor and contentedly relax at home confident that there is peace, security

and prosperity in their locality.

Bibliography
Estonio, Maria Camille Anne P., Peace and Order Keeping for Security: Barangay Level

2014

https://camilleannedt.wordpress.com/2014/12/18/peace-and-order-keeping-for-security-

barangay-level/

Senate of the Philippines 17th congress (January 26, 2017)

http://www.senate.gov.ph/press_release/2017/0126_pimentel1.asp

Blog:

Custodio. Silvia M. Solving the traffic problem (2016)

http://www.rappler.com/thought-leaders/139266-solving-traffic-problem

https://d0ctrine.com/2013/06/03/common-causes-of-traffic-congestion-along-philippine-

roads/

http://bklyner.com/what-really-causes-traffic-congestion-sheepshead-bay/

Read more: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/421687/mayor-vows-to-act-on-lucena-citys-

traffic-woes#ixzz4caNZdffi