President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. said his administration is working to improve public transportation in Metro Manila to reduce one-way commute time to less than one hour.

“Ang usually sa planning dapat ang commute… going to work at saka pag-uwi, ‘yung one way should not, hindi dapat lumagpas sa isang oras. That’s the goal,” President Marcos said in the BBM Podcast Episode 3 which aired on Thursday.

The President said improving the public transport system would address the traffic congestion caused by an overabundance of private vehicles on the streets.

“We’ve seen the examples around the world. ‘Yung mga lugar na talagang sumobra na ang traffic dahil lahat ng tao walang public transport, walang bus, walang tren, walang subway,” President Marcos said.

“Siyempre lahat kailangan bumili ng sasakyan. Bibili ng motor, bibili ng auto. Kaya nagkaka-traffic nang husto. So, that’s why we are continuing to make (the public transportation system) more efficient,” the President added.

Aside from building new train lines, the administration is also adding trains to existing lines to boost passenger capacity.

President Marcos was referring to the refurbished ‘Dalian trains’–named after the city in China where the trains were manufactured–that were recently added to the MRT-3 line after being mothballed for a decade.

“Yung pag-rehabilitate nung tinatawag na Dalian cars na hindi nagamit ng gaano katagal mula noong nabili. Ten years old already, hindi pa nagamit. Ngayon pa lamang nagagamit,” the President said.

“Inayos-ayos, puwede naman pa lang i-modify para magamit dito sa Pilipinas. So, that will be added capacity,” added the President.

The Chief Executive also highlighted the Metro Manila Subway project, which would connect Valenzuela City to Pasay City.

“These are solutions so that life will be a little easier, so that life will be more convenient, you know, going to work,” said the President. | PND