Holiday exodus takes hours longer due to Quezon traffic

Trips traversing Southern Luzon took more than twice as long due to the traffic situation in Quezon province, where a road repair was underway amid the holiday exodus.

According to Quezon 4th Engineering District Engineer Rodel Florido, the traffic buildup was due to an ongoing road repair prompted by the damage from continuous rains.

“Ang tag-ulan po ay nagdudulot ng mabilis na pagkasira ng ating mga kalsada,” he said in an interview on Super Radyo dzBB which was aired on GMA’s “24 Oras Weekend” on Sunday.

“May isa lang po kaming road repair, nagkaroon ng build up, kung saan nagawan naman namin ng paraan,” he added.

(The rains cause the fast destruction of the roads. We just had one road repair that caused a buildup, but we were able to address it.)

Florido said the heavy traffic was also due to bottlenecks, causing congestion in some portions.

“‘Yung Maharlika po kasi natin, may mga na-widen o may mga naging apat na ‘yung linya. Ngayon, ‘pag dating po sa mga portion na nagiging narrow na siya, balik sa dalawang lanes,” he said.

(The Maharlika Highway has sections that were widened or with four lanes, but some portions are narrow and have only two lanes.)

Vehicles traverse the Maharlika Highway to get to the Bicol provinces, the Visayas, and Mindanao.

Furthermore, the traffic situation in Quezon province had caused a slow turnaround for buses, leaving several passengers stranded in terminals around Metro Manila as most trips were fully booked for the holiday season.

Trips to the Bicol region, which usually take seven hours, took up to 14 hours on Saturday, December 23, 2023. Trips to Gumaca were also reported to have taken five hours versus the usual 30 minutes.

For its part, the Parañaque Integrated Terminal Exchange (PITX) said it had added trips to cater to the influx of passengers during the Christmas and New Year holidays.

“Mas marami na tayong additional trips. At the same time, ‘yung mga tinatangkilik na bus terminal companies ng ating mga pasahero ay nasa PITX na rin,” PITX corporate affairs officer Kolyn Calbasa said in the same report.

(We have more additional trips. At the same time, the bus companies being frequented by passengers are now in the PITX.) — DVM, GMA Integrated News