Understanding behavior-based city congestion: The importance of education towards inter-driver cooperation

Abstract

Metro Manila is one of the top congested cities not just in Asia but in the world before and during the pandemic. This descriptive study of the city’s drivers employed the Driver Behavior Questionnaire based on Guého et al.’s adaptation of the Manchester DBQ where respondents were to self-assess for behaviors related to lapses, errors and violations and positive behaviors. A purposive sampling was conducted across drivers of vehicles four wheels and above across the city. The findings revealed that majority of Filipino drivers did not go through formal driving training. The rating on positive behaviors needs to be improved across all ages and educational levels which were also cross-validated with government-provided empirical data. Recommendation for the mitigation of driver behavior-based congestion is through the education of city drivers particularly leveraging on the Filipino value of “Pakikipagkapwa” or concern for others. This may be achieved through an information campaign on inter-driver cooperation, consistent traffic rules implementation and provision of informative and conspicuous traffic signs in order to prevent the top traffic violations in the city namely, obstruction and disregard of traffic signs. In-depth study and implementation of such recommendations are covered in Levels 3 to 5 of the Industry 4.0 framework in the Integrated Smart Traffic Management Solution.