Journal of the Eastern Asia Society for Transportation Studies, Vol.13, 2019 Premium Point to Point (P2P) Bus Service System: An Initial Assessment of Current Routes in Metro Manila Paolo Ian LUCERO a*, Alexis FILLONE b, Rachel HABANA c a Gokongwei College of Engineering (GCOE) Graduate School, De La Salle University, Metro Manila, 1004, Philippines; E-mail: [email protected] b Civil Engineering Department, De La Salle University, Metro Manila, 1004, Philippines; E-mail: [email protected] c Department of Science and Technology, Philippine Council for Industry, Energy & Emerging Technology Research and Development (DOST-PCIEERD), Metro Manila, 1631, Philippines; E-mail: [email protected] Abstract: An initial assessment of the existing routes of the recently implemented P2P Bus Service System in Metro Manila was conducted. The service encourages mode shifting from private to public transport especially for users traversing one of the busiest roads in the metro: Epifanio de los Santos Avenue (EDSA). The characteristics of the P2P bus units that distinguish them from regular buses include fixed departure schedules, fewer pick-up and drop-off points, passenger limit, and aspects such as more comfortable seating and free internet connection. A questionnaire survey is then conducted among current P2P users to have an initial assessment of the said transit system and be able to formulate possible improvements. It was found that not all routes were able to successfully encourage private car users to shift to P2P and most of the current users are also from other modes of public transport. On the other hand, a satisfaction survey is also conducted among users and it is identified that affordability, travel time, schedule, and amenities are aspects which can be improved for the P2P bus service system. Keywords: Metro Manila, P2P Bus Service System, Public Transportation, Assessment 1. INTRODUCTION As an initiative of Philippines’ Department of Transportation (DoTr) to help improve the transportation system especially in Metro Manila, a new public transport system in the form of Premium Point to Point (P2P) Bus Service System was implemented in December 2015. In three years’ time, from an initial amount of 20 units serving 3 routes, the system has already expanded to 35 routes with a total of 312 P2P bus units serving not just the metropolitan area, but also nearby provinces as well (TDT, 2018). The characteristics of the P2P bus units that distinguish them from regular buses include fixed departure schedules, fewer pick-up and drop-off points, passenger limit, and aspects such as more comfortable seating and free internet connection. These characteristics are expected to encourage modal shift of private car users to public transport. According to DoTr, modal shift from private to public transport is the primary objective for the introduction of the P2P bus service system. The need for an introduction of a new mass transportation system came out from the idea of lessening the volume of Metro Manila’s most congested main road which is the Epifanio de los Santos Avenue or more commonly known as EDSA. However, due to continuous urban growth, vehicles traversing EDSA continuously increased over the years despite the introduction of the P2P bus service 1312 Journal of the Eastern Asia Society for Transportation Studies, Vol.13, 2019 system. Efforts through research have been exerted in trying to improve the transportation condition along EDSA. Roquel, Fillone, Dadios, & Abad (2015) proposed a genetic algorithm approach for developing optimal schedule of public transport which considered maximizing revenues for bus operators and minimizing costs for both company owners and users. Baron, Escover, & Tsukamoto (2012) assessed the applicability of introducing a bus rapid transit system along EDSA by using EMME transport modelling software. Both of these researches acknowledged the importance of improving public transportation especially along EDSA in the hopes of encouraging private car users to leave their vehicles at home and use public transport instead. It is quite challenging to manage public transport alongside continuous urban sprawl. Between transport alternatives, modal split remains unchanged with the use of private cars still having the largest share in recent decades (Batty, Palacin, & Gonzalez-Gil, 2015). Therefore, finding more effective ways of encouraging automobile users to shift to public transport has been a major concern in various studies not just to reduce traffic congestion but to also help in global sustainability efforts of reducing carbon emissions. Batty et al. (2015) discussed challenges and opportunities in promoting urban modal shift to public transport by analyzing societal, political and economic obstacles that hinder people to change their travel behavior. Furthermore, the researchers also proposed a revised version of Department for Transport’s (UK) Hierarchy of Transport Needs from the analysis of public transport quality attributes from other researches in UK: Paulley et al. (2006), De Witte et al. (2006), Stradling et al. (2007), and Tyrinopoulos & Antoniou (2008). From the most important need to the least, the factors included accessibility, reliability, comfortability & cleanliness, safety & security, affordability, speed of service, and environmental impact. These attributes may also be significant in carefully planning and implementing new transit systems. In other Asian countries, research on modal shift from private to public transport have also gained attention in light of finding solutions to ease heavy traffic congestion, accidents, air pollution, and also ease the need for more parking spaces. In Malaysia, effects of transport policies on private to public modal shift was studied and it was found out that significant sociodemographic characteristics that influence individual’s choice of transport include age, gender, car, ownership, travel time, travel cost, household size and income. Moreover, the most significant factors that encourage users to use public transport included reduced travel time, reduced distance from home to public transport access points, as well as subsidized fares (Nurdden, Rahmat, & Ismail, 2007). In Thailand, the introduction of a possible bus rapid transit was considered to promote modal shift from private to public transport by developing modal split models to predict choices of private car and motorcycle users (Satiennam, Jaensirisak, Satiennam, & Detdamrong, 2016). From these studies, it is evident that encouraging private car users to shift to public transport is a task which includes comprehensive planning and considerations of not just the travel demand but other important characteristics as well. The P2P Bus Service System in Metro Manila may be of great potential in encouraging private car users to shift to public transport. However, more than the travel demand, the implementation of the relatively new transit system should also consider societal, political and economic obstacles that will help understand how modal shift to public transport may be done more effectively. In this paper, an initial assessment of the Premium P2P Bus Service System is presented by analyzing gathered data from a survey conducted among P2P bus users of various routes. Mainly, the research will try to assess whether the main objective of the implemented transportation project was achieved. Moreover, recommendations are made to improve the relatively new transit system. Future research tasks will also be discussed. 1313 Journal of the Eastern Asia Society for Transportation Studies, Vol.13, 2019 2. PREMIUM POINT TO POINT BUS SERVICE SYSTEM 2.1. P2P’s Target Area: Epifanio de los Santos Avenue (EDSA) EDSA (formerly known as North-South Circumferential Road) was built in the 1930s to mainly connect the northern and southern parts of Metro Manila. Since then, urban development has continuously thrived on many parts of the main road. Bocquet (2013) enumerated causes of traffic congestion along EDSA which included the placement of major shopping malls and business districts along the thoroughfare, high number of bus terminals, and concentration of local vehicles such as jeepneys and tricycles at exit points of EDSA. Since numerous economic activities are concentrated on places along EDSA, even if the road experiences heavy daily traffic congestion, most people have no choice but to use the said road. Decongesting EDSA through the improvement of public transport such as the P2P Bus System strategy would be of great help. It is reported that EDSA has exceeded its design capacity by around 25% and that the implementation of P2P Bus Service System is expected to aid this “overcapacitated” scenario by encouraging private car users to shift to P2P bus units (Philippine News Agency, 2016). In Metropolitan Manila Development Authority’s (MMDA) report on the annual average daily traffic count in Metro Manila, data of the total vehicle count along EDSA in 2014 is obtained and shown in Figure 1. On the other hand, the total vehicle count in the year 2017 along the same main roadway is also shown. The implementation of P2P is right between these years, specifically in December 2015. Figure 1. Annual Average Daily Traffic (AADT) Count in 2014 along EDSA (MMDA, 2019) In the figure, it can be observed that in a span of three years, despite the implementation of P2P Bus Service, the annual average daily traffic count of vehicles traversing EDSA did not decrease. From a total of 360,417 vehicles