Christmas wish list for road users

It’s that time of the year again when seemingly the whole humanity is busy writing up their Yuletide wish list. It’s that time of the year, too, when I tend to become whimsical and start asking Santa for a shiny new car – or at the very least enough funds for a new paint job (or a new sound system or new alloy wheels and tires, etc. etc.) for my aging Swedish car.

But this time, I won’t be making a wish list just for me. I’ll be completely selfless for a change (but only for this month!) In fact I won’t even be making a wish list at all. I’ll be making a wish, alright, but just one. And it’s not only for me, but for all road users – which means not just other drivers, but motorcyclists, bicyclists, pedestrians, and all commuters taking the bus, jeepney, FX/megataxi, tricycles…heck even the LRT and MRT!

What’s my wish? (It should be pretty obvious by now.) Simple: to have a safe and efficient means of going from point A to point B, anywhere in the country, at any time – not just in 2011, but for as long as sustainably possible. Sounds simple enough, right?

Well, tell that to the MMDA (or to the LTFRB or to the LTO or to the TMG, etc. etc.)! I certainly don’t mean to besmirch any of these government agencies. The tasks faced by these bodies are truly monumental – and it is made all the more challenging by the lack of budget and manpower that is a chronic waterloo of all of our government institutions.

Factor in the equally perennial problems of graft and corruption within the agencies and a severe lack of discipline among motorists, public utility drivers, commuters, and pedestrians alike, and you have the recipe for near-anarchy on our roads. It’s really no wonder the big buses and trucks literally win in our daily “matira ang matibay” journeys.

Of course the prime culprit is still the buses. We see how bus drivers bully their way around traffic. We’ve seen how they play the game when they’re asked to comply with something completely reasonable and equitable. (They staged a strike – something still denied by the bus operators – when it was announced that buses would be subject to a number-coding vehicle volume reduction scheme similar to that applied to private cars.) And now it’s been shown that they try to circumvent this law by switching plates or relabeling their buses (the latter to circumvent the colorum bus apprehension efforts of the authorities).

What kind of crooks operate these bus companies?!? For a country that’s cutting-edge in terms of IT, telecommunications, outsourcing, and many other technologies and services, our private bus industry is embarrassingly still in the Jurassic age!

Shame on you, bus operators! You laugh all the way to the bank and go on all your lavish vacations while the country is left near-paralyzed by the undisciplined – and unlawful – actions of your drivers! Is this the kind of legacy you want to leave for your children and grandchildren? That as long as you need an army of accountants just to count your millions and millions, everything is justified? That makes you no different from a smuggler or a tax evader or a drug pusher. Crooks, all!

Just imagine what kind of transportation service we would have if it was a Manny V. Pangilinan or an Ayala or a Gokongwei or a Lucio Tan overseeing the management of these bus companies. We’d have a disciplined, efficient, safe and world-class transportation system in a matter of months, that’s what! Instead we’ve been suffering from the anarchistic rule of these buses for quite literally a lifetime. All because they’re run by greedy, profit-obsessed crooks.

But I’m not done yet. For the same reason that the number of buses had to be reduced to alleviate traffic (because the number of buses was simply way too much for the number of passengers), the same exercise should be performed on tricycles. I’m pretty sure my neighborhood isn’t the only one afflicted by the sudden increase in the number of tricycles.

Not only do they choke up traffic by driving side by side at 20 kph on a perfectly paved and wide stretch of road, the lines they create queuing for a ride is too long and often block access to sidewalks, residences or establishments. I’ve seen villages where the line snakes around a whole corner block! (And with the tricycle drivers often asleep on their seats.)

Obviously, any locality doesn’t need double or even triple the number of tricycles its riding public actually needs. Equally obviously, it would be counterproductive for existing tricycle operators to keep accepting more and more tricycles plying their own route. So the question is: Why do the TODAs (Tricycle Operators and Drivers Associations) allow this to happen? Your guess is as good as mine.

But it’s safe to assume that politics – and money – is as involved here as it is with the bus operators. Everyone just wants to get in on the act – public transportation efficiency be damned.

Jeepneys? We’ll we’ve been debating these WWII-era modes of transportation since I was in high school. And now my son’s high school class is still debating whether we need them or not. Incredible! Well, suffice to say that we still need them more then we don’t – even if our Asian neighbors have surpassed us in economic development without ever needing such quirky, smoky and uncomfortable modes of mass transport. Hmm…perhaps they did so because they didn’t have jeepneys…

At the very least, jeepneys should try to de-smog themselves by using cleaner and more modern diesel engines. And try having airconditioning for goodness sake! Laughable? Ten years ago, half our taxis had no airconditoning. Today all taxis have aircon – and people pay for the premium. The inevitable increase in jeepney fares once they’re airconditioned will be greatly offset by the comfort both driver and passenger will enjoy. I’m sure the older jeepney drivers will be kicking themselves for suffering all these years and not doing it sooner. And instead of us cringing at the thought, we’d even have a jeepney we’d be proud to let our foreign guests ride in.

MRT and LRT? More coaches! Pound for pound, an overhead light railway transport system is simply the most efficient mode of transport for a heavily populated metropolis like Metro Manila – especially considering that our metropolis is probably one of the highest population density cities without an underground subway system and without any great scope for further road expansion.

Car and bike drivers/riders? Discipline! And know all the road rules and regulations. No time to memorize all the rules and regulations? Then just drive over to Subic. I’m sure that within an hour of driving inside SBMA, their traffic enforcers would have the most ignorant motorist fully intimate with all the international laws of driving and riding. If only our local MMDA enforcers were as efficient and bribe-proof as those in Subic…

Ultimately, we can all wish our hearts out for Utopian levels of traffic; but in the end, it is only discipline that can help us all live that dream. Kaya ba natin ‘to?

Here are some of your Backseat Driver comments from last week’s “Parking Pains” by James Deakin…

Well said, Mr. Deakin! There are a multitude of reputable businesses which have been raking it in but at the same time, don’t bother to provide the basics for both their customers and their immediate surroundings. Two cases in point: along C-5 Katipunan are Banapple and newly-opened Conti’s. Both cater to the affluent sector of society who drive around in cars, both offer high-priced, high-quality food with highly-respected names, and both offer very limited parking. The result: both choke the already-bottlenecked major thoroughfare, both have guards who stop traffic to allow patrons to maneuver and create a much bigger traffic mess, and both couldn’t care less. Yes Mr. Deakin, let us wield our power to choose – to go somewhere else! – lorie624

I share your exasperation, James. There are countless establishments like that and it’s not limited to commercial establishments. Look at the PLDT building, their office cannot accommodate their employees moreso their clients. And how many times have you seen a bank with no parking available? As far as liability is concerned, I think there should be some sort of liability for those operating parking spaces. They are making a killing with those rates. At least what they can do is provide some sort of assurance for the customers. – brondial

I got the feeling that the article had described two of the carparks that I can relate my experiences with, the Newport Mall carpark near NAIA 3 and the SecureParking in Ortigas. The Newport Mall carpark also took me awhile to find me a slot and I also thought of not attending our company event at that time. I’m also using SecureParking for P2,500 a month and the back of the ID says that it does not guarantee the security of your car, ironic. There were reports of theft in this carpark, that’s why I don’t leave my things in there. I’m paying monthly fee and when it is holiday or Sunday, I cannot use the carpark since it is closed. – noblestudd