13 Ways to Solve the Traffic Problem in Manila

Photo from here

If there is one problem in Manila that haven’t been solved yet it would be the traffic.  Everyday people have to battle it out with the traffic, pollution, and heat as they go on commutes. They allot two hours just to arrive on time on their work places which is just about 2 kilometers away, bring a facial wash to remove all the dirt from their pores, and ingest extra fluids to prevent dehydration.

Clearly, there is exists a need for one thing: a more effective transportation system.

 While I am completely clueless about the traffic system and the different measures currently implemented to solve the problem, I would like to give my take on this problem, counting only on my experience as a commuter in the last four years.

Let me start by saying that the main problem of a traffic jam is that the cars move slowly, or hardly move at all. That’s not really rocket science. So now I shift my focus first to solving the different causes why these cars move so slow. Here are some ideas that could help:

• Ban street vendors who sell cigarette, candies, drinks, newspapers to drivers
• Ensure an adequate supply of coin denominations so that drives would not have to do small talk to another driver, asking for a change
• Utilize the pedestrian lanes and arrest the jaywalkers!

The secondary problem is caused by the people themselves. They alight and board whenever they want to. Some are just plainly lazy that they want their butts to move only when on the exact spot where they are going.

• There should be designated loading points like the ones in train stations. Nothing causes traffic more than a greedy jeepney driver who wants all the passengers for himself.
• If the place where you’re alighting to is just a street or two away from where a passenger is about to go down. Please do the whole Philippines a favor by alighting as well. It gives you good exercise and prevents unnecessary stopping of the jeep from one street to the next.
• People should start sitting from the place nearest the driver to allow the people to board the jeepney faster. Faster boarding time equals less time spent idle in the middle of the road waiting for someone to be seated.

The next problem that needs to be addressed to have a better transportation system is the legislation regarding the use of the roads.

• Buses must not be allowed to switch from one lane or another. They’re too long and causes much traffic if always done.
• There must be a strict demarcation on the lanes. I suggest that in a three lane road, the innermost would contain the private vehicles, the middle lane having the freely moving PUV, while those at the outermost are for the ones who pick up passengers.

Traffic cannot be attributed to a lone entity. It needs a multi-factorial approach which do not only aim to address the ways which people ought to follow but more so how these ways will be implemented by the government.

• Train the traffic enforcers better. I’ve seen Vito Cruz at around noon on times with/without traffic enforcers and the situation is just the same
• Have wider roads and if needed, more flyovers to avoid traffic prone areas

The last problem I think is the road-vehicle proportion mismatch. We have too many cars and few good roads. Here are some suggested solutions:

• Increase the prices of cars so that only few will be on the road (This sounds elitist but it might just work)
• Implement a more selective coding scheme
• Strongly implement the provisions stated in the Clean Air Act which includes the banning of smoke-belching cars

Do you still have ideas in mind to solve the traffic problem?

California King Bed

Last Monday, I rode the LRT going to EDSA station to renew my passport. (See entry here) As usual, the MRT supersedes all definition of being “packed”. If the people in the train were atoms, we would be solid matter. So packed that you can sniff your co-passengers breakfast from their shirts!

While battling myself for survival at the LRT, it dawned to me that this madness would’ve been a good concept for Rihanna’s California King Bed. The line “Chest to chest, nose to nose, palm to palm, we were always just that close” would’ve been depicted as vividly and with much literal realism going on (a seemingly nonexistent part in the official video) by the passengers. Scrap the song’s metaphorical meaning, viewers to be fed with raw information!    

Here are some proposed scenes in the music video:

Chest to chest. :)

Back to the LRT ride. I boarded the train at Doroteo Jose. It was empty when it arrived. As we entered the train, I and the other passengers, composed mostly of men, got seats and were all comfortable. 

The train then had more and more passengers as it advanced from one station to another. This time, more on the female population were boarding. At the earliest glimpse of an old lady who found no seat available, I immediately gave mine. I was expecting that other males would also do that but to no avail, they just sat there apathetic from all women who were standing up. And I thought Filipino culture teaches us to give way to women.

Later on the trip, I saw a sign on the window of the train that says, “Seats are strictly for the women and the disabled”. Can’t we read as well? Haynaku.

Original photos from here and here 

Philippine Transportation Famine

Managing to get on a bus at 8am can be one of the greatest struggles one could face in a Monday morning. A skillful commuter requires the quintessential qualities of determination, knowledge, foresight, and a bit of luck combined in equal proportions. He must have the running stamina to catch the still running bus, adept in anticipating where the bus would park (while also anticipating the exact point where the bus’ door will open), and the most important, fight his way through the sea of barbaric people wanting to get in. This is a competition where the winners get the seats, while the deprived few are left to stand up in the middle aisle of the bus.

Every single day you have to compete with the professional who is already running late, the student whose first class for the day is about to start, the excited tourist whose spirit you can’t keep down, and of course, the job hunters about to get to an interview. While the aforementioned job titles seem to be the most educated of the Filipino bunch, do not let them fool you! Once the bus goes to a halt, there’s no telling on what they can carry out in order to to get in. They can nudge you with their sikos, use their arms to block your way and secure theirs, and shove you till you out of the sea of passengers. 

With the current state of the transportation in the Philippines, I now declare that we are in the state of Transportation instability! Our people have resorted to violence (see previous paragraph), fighting among themselves, because of this scarcity, the law of supply and demand of transportation is still far from being satisfied, the fuel prices increase each time I watch the TV, and the transportation groups go on to a strike every now and then.

I say we provide more buses of better quality! Let us have those double decked buses they have in China to accommodate more people and at the same fuel expense and lesser effort. Let us convert those near empty buses going to Pasay and Cubao to the jam-packed Avenida buses instead to balance the supply and demand. Let us have a separate license for bus drivers so that they would know that they need to stop while their passengers are alighting, that swerving is not cool, and that passenger hoarding leads to further traffic.

I think I should seriously run for public office someday. 

Photo from www.panoramio.com