1. Transportation 

     Carmona is accessible thru land travel from all directions. It is at the crossroads from north to south between Cavite and Laguna as well as the gateway to the southern provinces of the region and beyond. From Carmona Public Market Terminal, Jeepney routes from Carmona to Biñan and GMA/Dasmariñas are available via the provincial road Governor’s Drive and the National Highway. Bus and Jeepney trips to Alabang, Manila, and Calamba are available going thru the South Expressway and Biñan thru the national roads. San Pedro, Laguna is also accessible thru Southwoods Drive in Barangay Cabilang-Baybay while the inner barangays of Biñan, Laguna, Laguna Technopark and Laguna International Industrial Park (LIIP) may be accessed thru Dahlia Street and Mayor’s Boulevard. Tagaytay is easily accessed thru Maguyam Road which connects to Aguinaldo Highway in Silang, Cavite.

     The average travel time within a 30-kilometer zone is about 30 minutes without traffic. Increasing traffic volume has made trips in all directions longer than the normal travel time due to the limited carrying capacity of the major road systems. New access points to and from the municipality is a priority and several old roads have been improved while new ones are laid to provide additional access. The old Sugar road is a good choice for new north-south access via Southwoods Drive and South Expressway to Sta. Rosa and Canlubang via Loma in Biñan, Laguna. The rough road of Paligawan is also an ideal route going to Silang and Tagaytay City if it could be connected to Sugar road and/or Mayor’s Boulevard. Another South Express exit linking Mayor’s Boulevard is another alternative considered to ease the huge traffic at the Philippine National Construction Corporation (PNCC) toll exit during rush hours.

     1.1 Roads

     The Municipality of Carmona, Cavite, has a total of 159.99 kilometers of road. It comprises 12.71 km of national/provincial road, 10.86 km of municipal road, and 46.61 km of barangay roads. Another 89.81 kilometers of road streets comprising of alleyways, path walks, private right-of-ways, and subdivisions provide access roads outside government jurisdictions. It has 138.13 km of concrete roads, 8.79 km of asphalt, and 13.07 km. of gravel and earth. Carmona’s urbanization is highly-attributed to the rapid development of large residential and commercial subdivisions in barangays Mabuhay, Lantic, and Bancal. 

Road Inventory by Classification, 2018 and 2019

The length of the provincial road recorded a 6.52% increase, from its previous record of 11.94 kilometers in 2018 to 12.71 kilometers in 2019. Others, which include alley, path walk, race track, subdivision access, and subdivision sub-access, comprise the highest composition, with 89.81 kilometers because of the private industries, residential subdivisions, and other land developments brought by the prevailing industrialization.

     Moreover, this data also shows that just over a year ago, land developments have caused a great impact on the total land area for agricultural activities in the municipality. Thus, agricultural land areas have decreased due to the establishment of new structures primarily for business purposes. 

Roads by Type of Surface, 2018 and 201

     The road network of the locality is 89.34% paved. As per the 2019 inventory of road by type of surface, the municipality of Carmona has three common types of road surface, including earth/gravel/rough, concrete, and asphalt roads. This road surface or pavement is the durable surface material laid down on an area to sustain vehicular traffic. 

     Some of the accomplished road network projects of the LGU are the Farm to Market Road at Lantic that starts at Alfonso Macha to Sugar Road, Access Road with Drainage, and Retaining Wall at Sitio Paligawan Matanda, Brgy. Lantic, Rehabilitation of Road from Asphalt to Concrete at Sitio Paligawan, Matanda, and Construction of Davilan Road.

Road Inventory by Type of Surface 2018 and 2019

     Based on the data shown on the previous page, concrete roads projected the highest increase of road inventory for 2019, garnering a total of 138,129 or 138.13 km asphalt roads. This is relatively higher by 10.42% compared to the 118.50 km in 2018. Asphalt type of surface, however, decline this year with a total of 8.79 kilometers compared to its previous record of 10.08 kilometers in 2018. Roads with earth/gravel/rough type of surface similarly declined by 14.79%, from 15.34 km in 2018 to 13.07 km.

     The predominance of roads with earth/gravel/rough type of surface shows that there are still undeveloped areas needed to be prioritized for future infrastructure plans of the municipality. Lastly, asphalt is the least type of road surface that exists in the municipality due to its less durability compared to concrete, which is more long-lasting and significantly stronger. Despite its relatively low cost, ease to repair, maintain, and little noise it produces compared to others, concrete roads are the more advisable type of surface.

     Thus, this record also leads to the assumption that in the early stages of the municipality’s development, it is doubtful that modern high-cost roads are necessary. This is just a mere fact that the existence of a means of communication is more important than its quality. However, prioritization for roads that are still earth/gravel/rough-in type is still needed for the attainment of safe and accessible roads for the public.  

• Bridges

     The Municipality of Carmona, Cavite has a total of 21 major and minor bridges comprising 4 provincial/national bridges, 2 municipal bridges, 4 barangay bridges, 5-foot bridges, and 6 privately-owned bridges inside subdivision access. Fourteen (14) of these bridges are made of reinforced concrete while the rests are both steel and asphalt or pure steel. All are passable but some bridges like the Carmona-GMA Bridge and Maduya-Soro-Soro Bridge need to be repaired and perhaps widened. Cityland-Mabuhay Bridge needs to be expanded to accommodate the widening and excavation of the tributary of Carmona Rivers, which are now only about waist-deep because of silt from upstream and debris as well as garbage.

Inventory of Existing Bridges, 2019

     The conditions of these bridges are also listed, where thirteen (13) are under good condition and utilized for daily transportation. Five (5) bridges are somehow fair, while the remaining three (3) bridges are structurally deficient or in poor condition, including Cityland Mabuhay Mini-Bridge, Altarez-Calabuso Bridge, and Bancal-GMA Bridge.

     The following bridges with poor conditions need significant improvement, repair, or maintenance to ensure safe and accessible means of transportation. Moreover, access to bridges is believed to be indispensable in terms of obtaining a progressive and well-developed municipality as the rising concern for traffic congestion hampers development.

• Transport Facilities

     There is only one transport terminal in the municipality located at the Carmona Public Market where four (4) Public Utility Jeepney (PUJ) Groups are operating. These are the TIMBAO Group plying the Timbao-Carmona-Biñan route with 40 vehicles, Carmona Biñan Jeepney Operators & Driver’s Multi-Purpose Coop plying the Carmona-Biñan route with 80 vehicles, GMA Transport Coop plying the Carmona-GMA route with 7 units and CPM JODAI plying the GMA-Carmona-Alabang route with 15 vehicles. 

     As per bus companies available in the municipality, there are three (3) bus companies with 28 units that ply the Carmona-Buendia LRT route, while one (1) bus company with four units uses the terminal daily trips to Cubao and Market-Market from 5:00 am to 9:00 am. Five (5) units of buses from HM also ply the Carmona-Lawton route. Twenty-two (22) buses and sixteen (16) vans use the CPM terminal to service commuter workers of Sucat, Laguna Techno Park in Barangay Loma, Biñan, Laguna, and Laguna Science Park at Cabuyao, Laguna. Moreover, there are nineteen (19) tricycle associations plying the internal routes of Carmona with 1,852 members and tricycle units.

     These represent the public transport facilities; however, there is no data available on the number of privately-owned vehicles in Carmona. A JICA-Assisted 2005 Traffic Count Survey estimates that at least 28,758 private & public vehicles pass-thru Carmona Exit Junction in a 24-hour count. One hundred twenty-six thousand twenty-three (126,023) vehicles pass-thru Southwoods to Carmona on the same time frame and 35,064 vehicles pass-thru the Carmona-GMA Bridge in Bancal in a 24-hour count.              

     In 2019, a total of 1,923 units of vehicles are plying in the municipality. These are composed of 1,852 (89%) tricycles, 142 (7%) jeepneys, 37 (2%) buses, 22 (1%) shuttle bus and 16 (1%) shuttle vans.   

Inventory of Public Land Transportation Vehicles by Type and Service Routes, 2019

     There are five (5) types of public utility vehicles commonly used by the people in the municipality of Carmona for their daily transportation.

     Tricycles and jeepneys served to be the primary mode of transportation in the municipality. The highest magnitude of units plying the municipality’s road is tricycles, representing 89% or 1, 852 units. Jeepneys came next with a 7% representation of the total public vehicles or 142 units. Shuttle bus and shuttle vans account for 1% only.

     Shuttle buses and vans usually cater to workers of Sucat, Laguna Techno Park, Laguna Science Park, and some of the private companies in the municipality, like ROHM and other electronics companies. Meanwhile, buses are also available at the CPM Terminal, providing trips for passengers going to Buendia, Cubao, and Lawton.

     The graphic chart above shows the inventory of public utility vehicles in Carmona for the last two (2) years. Tricycles remained to have the highest number of units plying within the municipality followed by jeepneys, buses and shuttle buses and vans used as service of commuter workers in Laguna and Sucat.

     Without a doubt, both jeepneys and tricycles are the type of public utility vehicles commonly used by the commuters in the municipality. These public utility vehicles have become the most important means of transportation for students and the labor force.

Table 5- Inventory of Ancillary Road Facilities, Year 2019

      The table above shows the Inventory of Ancillary Road Facilities in 2019. It is composed of 1 pedestrian overpass along Governor’s Drive, 7 waiting sheds, 4 traffic lights, 857 street lights, 28 pedestrian crossings, 4 overhead pedestrian crossings, 3 covered path walks, and 159 road signages along major roads of the municipality.

The condition of the following road facilities in National Road, Provincial Road, City/Municipal road, and Barangay Road was marked as good, especially with the waiting sheds. Pedestrian Crossing, Road Signage, Traffic lights, and street lights at National road, Municipal road, and Barangay road were all under good condition the same with the sidewalks located at Market Road and Purificacion.

     As of 2019, the municipality has recorded a total of 1,091 units of streetlights installed at various barangays as part of the safety precautions for the general public, particularly, road users during nighttime. Two hundred thirty-four (234) units of LED Streetlights were successfully installed at various barangays in 2019 budgeted under the POP Programs of the municipality.                                                                      

Table 5-a- Inventory of Solar Powered Streetlights

     Carmona has seventy-two (72) units of solar-powered streetlights installed at strategic places, particularly at the major thoroughfares like Southwoods Intersection, Rotonda, SLEX intersection, and several government-owned buildings. Solar-powered street lights are independent of the utility grid, which helps in lessening the operation cost chargeable against the municipality. These use wireless lights that are not connected to any electric provider, hence, making it cost-efficient and a viable tool for the conservation of energy.  

Table 5-a- Inventory of Streetlights in Various Barangays

     Of the 1,091 units of LED Streetlights currently installed at various barangays, two hundred thirty-four (234) units of LED Streetlights were completed in November 2019 through the continuous efforts of the Local Government Unit of Carmona.

      Flood Control and Drainage Facilities

     Most of the barangays have existing storm drainage systems running along the streets of the municipality.  It consists mainly of reinforced concrete pipes, lined and unlined open canals, and reinforced concrete rectangular culvert or box type canals. Since the Poblacion area is prone to flooding due to the natural grade of the area and the lack of planning during the ’70s, ’80s, and 90’s developments, the municipality embarked on a comprehensive program of developing a drainage system that can cope with the fast-growing problem of flooding during the late 90’s up to the present. The municipality has now two (2) main storm drainage pipes that can handle the vast amounts of stormwater. One is the 245-meter long, 1.5-2 meter- diameter underground pipe along Purificacion Street. It runs from the existing creek in Barangays 7 and 8 draining to the Carmona River. The other drainage pipe is the 120-meter long, 2 –meter-diameter underground pipe along Tenedero Street running from Magallanes Street and draining to the existing creek in Barangay 2 which eventually drains to Carmona River.

     The total length of the municipality’s drainage system is 146. 93 km. of which 6.67 kilometers or 5% is covered with concrete hollow blocks (CHB), 20.48 kilometers or 14% are open CHB, 89.83 kilometers or 61% is reinforced concrete pipe (RCP) and 0.27 kilometers are natural creeks and canals.

      Drainage & Flood Control Inventory

     The Carmona Public Market (CPM) was established in the year 2000.  Built on a 2-hectare lot, it is composed of three (3) buildings, the dry and wet and food stalls buildings. There are 390 stalls available with a daily rental ranging from Php 26.00 to Php 78.00. It was designed to make the management of the market more efficient. It has its own road network and terminal facility. Power is supplied by Meralco while Carmona Water District provides for the water supply of the establishment. It caters to both the community of Carmona and the nearby barangays of Biñan, Laguna as well as GMA, Cavite. The CPM is managed by the Municipal Treasurer’s Office, while security is handled by Civil Security Unit. The Engineering office takes care of the maintenance and repair of all public market facilities. Traffic is managed by the Carmona Traffic Management Office (CARTMO) and all public utility vehicles serving the public market is registered at the LTFRB.