Making Manila More Manageable

Challenge

The rapid economic development of the Philippines has caused a centralized population and heavy traffic congestion, especially in Metro Manila.

National routes in Metro Manila are in good condition; however, 44% of the maintenance status reports of National Highways 1 and 2 are poor. In particular, the rainy season seriously damages many routes. Moreover, it is difficult to repair and enlarge general roads due to the gradually increasing population and number of people on the roads in Metro Manila. In the future, traffic congestion in Metro Manila is expected to be more serious.

Recently, the Philippine government decided to adopt the Integrated Services Digital Broadcasting – Terrestrial (ISDB-T) as the national digital broadcasting standard. ISDB-T is expected to contribute to the distribution of information such as traffic information, disaster information and e-learning contents. Our feasibility study examined a system for utilizing ISDB-T that provides road traffic information to drivers by collecting location information.

Individuals and companies expect these systems to reduce economic losses from traffic congestion by providing accurate traffic information and arrival times.

This project aims to mitigate traffic congestion in Metro Manila through the dissemination of real-time traffic information utilizing probe vehicle data and ISDB-T data broadcasting.

OC Global implemented four studies: system model analysis, business model analysis, demand analysis, and demonstration. During the performance of the services, we delivered the following services:

• Formulation of system model
• Formulation of business plan
• Clarification of validity and effectiveness of the dissemination of real-time traffic information technology
• Demand analysis
• Demonstration of the system model formulated

We are considering smartphone applications to provide traffic information. The applications display traffic information on a map on the smartphone, receiving traffic information through ISDB-T. Benefits for the Philippines of the proposed system are as follows.

• Mitigate traffic congestion
• Invigorate economic activity
• Reduce gasoline consumption and CO2 emissions
• Create a new line of business
• Low operation and maintenance cost
• Utilization of data
• Technology transfer