Toward the end of last month, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) presented a transport “dream plan” for Mega Manila—the area comprising the National Capital Region, Region 3, and Region 4-A—which proposed, among other things, 137 kilometers of new urban roads and upgrades to the existing road network; 426 kilometers of intercity expressways connected by an additional 78 kilometers of urban expressways; 246 and 72 kilometers, respectively, of main and secondary commuter rail lines; improvements to the traffic management system; and upgrades to the systems for managing ground transportation such as buses and jeepneys. The price tag for all this comes to around P2.3 trillion, which JICA believes the government can easily fund by 2030 if the current forecasts for the Philippines’ economic growth over the next 15 to 20 years are reasonably accurate.