Not surprised? With the onset of the Christmas season, the people behind traffic navigation app Waze warned that traveling through Metro Manila has gotten worse, and that the metropolis is set to be the world’s worst city to drive in – again.
In a report by Bloomberg, Waze said that driving a kilometer in Metro Manila took a dismal 4.9 minutes in September, significantly longer than April’s 3.8 minutes. According to country lead Sarah Rodriguez, Manila is set to beat Bogota (four minutes) and Jakarta (3.83 minutes) as worst city to drive in for the second consecutive year.
Rodriguez said that the traffic situation in Manila is about to get even worse in the following months, most especially with the All Saints’ Day break and the Christmas holiday, where Filipino families frequently go out to bond and celebrate.
“This is the time of the year when Filipinos travel the most and also spend the most time per drive,” Rodriguez disclosed.
The Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. is expecting a 10-percent increase in traffic volume on its expressways this coming holiday weekend to start with All Saints’ Day.
Caloocan City Rep. Edgar Erice earlier warned that the traffic situation in Metro Manila is about to get worse in November, saying that the riding public should brace for “the worst” as the Christmas rush draws near as well as the start of the 30th Southeast Asian Games.
Meanwhile, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority and mall operators agreed to move mall operating hours to a later time in a bid to resolve the expected upswell of vehicular traffic during the Christmas season.
Beginning November 11, 2019 to January 19, 2020, malls will open at 11 a.m. on weekdays.