Adopting Transit-Oriented Development (TOD)in Metro-Manila Railway system : Considering Sweden’s Experience and Learning

Abstract: Transit-oriented development (TOD) or as it is referred to in Sweden ABC (Arbete, Bostad,och Centrum which means work, housing, and city center) is the highly prevailing and excitingconcept of integrating urban communities, activities, people, buildings and public places together.This idea is primarily focused upon the creation of walkable, pedestrian-oriented communities andcycling connections, which are centered among the high-quality train systems.This research has been conducted to provide a comprehensive analysis related to theimplementation of the TOD model within Metro-Manila, by enhancing its railway network toreduce the problem of high traffic congestion and to provide a better service to a larger number ofpassengers. To carry out this research, various ideas were taken from the TOD projects that havebeen implemented within the metro system of Stockholm as an example to be used for Metro-Manila.In order to conduct this study, both quantitative and qualitative research approaches wereutilized to conduct an in-depth analysis of the current conditions of the railway transportationsystem in Metro-Manila. Within the qualitative part of this research, a SWOT analysis and adetailed comparison was also carried out to determine the efficiency of Metro-Manila and the areaswhere it needed significant improvements. Whereas, for the quantitative analysis, a survey wasconducted from both the people of Metro-Manila and Stockholm (i.e., 226 respondents) tounderstand the current situations of these railway networks more appropriately. The survey wasdesigned based on close-ended five (5) points Likert Scale questions. The results of the surveysrevealed that the respondents were mostly satisfied with the metro system in Stockholm andimplementation of the TOD concepts but usually dissatisfied with Metro-Manila railway system.An interview was also conducted with the officials of the Stockholm transport organization (SL)to gather more insight related to the problems within the railway networks.It was revealed from the analysis that Metro-Manila railway network has been facingsevere problems in terms of limited capacity, poor facilities, unavailability of trains, andmismanagement. The analysis also revealed a few problems within the Stockholm metro systemas well. However, to eradicate or mitigate these problems, several strategies and recommendationshave been proposed within this research. Based from the facts the researcher has gathered and ispresented in this research paper, it was evident that implementation of transit-orienteddevelopment, even if its limited to just the basic concepts, will highly be beneficial in botheconomic and societal aspects and its effectively and efficiently is enough to satisfy the needs ofthe daily commuters and would result in a dramatical reduction of traffic congestions.