‘Burn those cars’ is the only solution to the gridlocks

THE first sign that Mr. Duterte knew math-based policy was revealed in an interview during the campaign. He was asked about his views on the massive, crippling metropolitan traffic jams and his intemperate remark was reportedly this: “ Burn those cars.” It was intemperate, yes, but it was based on math. An infrastructure-short Metro Manila cannot accommodate more than 200,000 cars that pile up into its gridlocked road network a year. Of the 300,000-plus cars and private vehicles sold yearly, very few are moved to the provinces.

If you cannot rein in the private cars, whose explosive sales and importation/assembly were supported by the Aquino administration, even the most ambitious and inspired infrastructure buildup in Metro Manila won’t suffice against the exploding presence of the fossil-fed hordes. There is simply no other viable traffic management policy available to the political leadership.