Philippines among top 10 countries with worst road quality, study says

The Philippines is known for having picturesque beaches, massive shopping malls, delectable delicacies, immense love for the game of basketball, among many others. The Philippines is also regarded as having one of the world’s most stressful cities to drive in.

The Philippines is among countries with poor road quality, according to a study [PNA photo by Gil Calinga]

Aside from that, a study was released stating that the Philippines is among the top 10 countries with the worst road quality. The said study was conducted by a U.K. financial services comparison platform Confused.com which based its findings according to the data from the World Economic Forum.  

It looked into 48 countries by considering a range of different factors, and then gave each country an overall weighted score out of 100 (with 0 being poor quality road infrastructure and 100 being extremely good infrastructure). Some of the factors considered for determining road quality are the state of traffic signs as well as road surfaces and lane markings.  

The study ranked Zimbabwe as the country with the worst road infrastructure, scoring 30.6 out of 100. Romania sits in second with a score of 32.6 followed by Brazil with 33.5. The fourth country on the list with the worst road quality is Peru with 36.4, and the fifth spot is given to Columbia with 39.7. 

Countries with the worst road quality

The Philippines is given a score of 44.8, taking the 8th spot in the said standing. It has been deemed to have better road infrastructure than the countries of Bulgaria (40.2), and Argentina (43.4). Iran and the Czech Republic complete the top 10 countries with the worst road quality with scores of 48.1 and 48.5, respectively. 

Meanwhile, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) stated in one of its assessment papers that the “coverage and quality of the Philippine road system may be characterized as poor.” The ADB added that road quality needs to “substantially improve in economies across each developing Asian subregion—most urgently in lower-income countries.”  

The DPWH urges the public to report road defects

In its study, developing Asia scores range from 2 to 6 with the regional average slightly above 4 in terms of road quality. The Philippines scored 3.5, ranking higher than Kazakhstan, Bangladesh, and Nepal. But still, the Philippines fall short of the regional average score that’s determined to be slightly above 4. 

On the other hand, the Philippine National Police (PNP) reported that driver errors cause most traffic accidents due to the lack of visible traffic signs.

That said, driving in the Philippines might indeed be deemed challenging. Despite the completion of new infrastructure, traffic within Metro Manila is still a problem. This prompted the MMDA to come up with two new number coding scheme proposals in an attempt to curb traffic in the National Capital Region. 

However, it’s an open secret that proper urban planning and improving public transportation are the keys to solving traffic in the capital. It might be a long and grueling process but focusing on those two factors could be better than coming up with band-aid solutions.

Dilapidated roads wouldn’t stop Philkotse from giving you the latest traffic updates and automotive news.