Dear people in power

Hello. A few of my readers and I would like to talk to you about the awful state of our roads. Not just the potholes, but the anarchy that takes place on them every single day. I know you’re busy, what with the elections coming up next year and all, but believe me, this won’t take long; besides, I guarantee you that it will save you a lot of time in your upcoming campaign.

You see, after exchanging emails, tweets, and internet posts, we have agreed among ourselves that the first person who can solve, or at least dramatically improve driving conditions in the Philippines, will automatically get our vote in the next election. Promise. And as an added bonus, we will even use our social media pages to campaign for you, which I’m sure you are aware is going to play a crucial role in your media plan as it is fast becoming recognized as the most influential medium for forming opinions. 

Basically, the trust is shifting; people are more willing to trust their peers rather than the mainstream media when it comes to making a decision. We no longer believe everything we read, but only what we see and feel, and because social media gave us all a voice to share, it has effectively killed your ability to divide and conquer. 

But there is an upside. A very big upside. With the Philippines being the eighth largest group of Facebook users with 28,563,860 active users and a growth rate of 4.83 per cent, not to mention Twitter and other self-broadcasting sites, that’s a hell of a lot of votes. Starting to see the picture? Now, just imagine if you could claim credit for restoring order on our roads? That is instant popularity and a guaranteed ticket into the hall of fame because this is something everybody sees and feels every day of their waking lives, whether they are commuting, driving, biking or walking. And the best part of it all is that it really is not that hard. 

The problem we see here is, you guys tend to be over-thinking all of this. Sure there is the need for long-term solutions, like infrastructure, driver education, and a complete overhaul of our mass transit system, but there are also so many short-term solutions that you could put in place today that will have an immediate and drastic effect on our daily lives. 

Some may seem trivial to you, but let me assure you, as fancy as all those other ‘pressing government issues’ are, you cannot build anything of substance starting from the top down. So, if you’re at all serious about change, you need to start from the ground up. Which usually means the streets. And by trying out some of these helpful homemade hints that a few readers and I have put together for you, you may find yourself winning more than just an election—you would win something far more valuable: our respect. Hear me out. 

Due to space constraints, and so you don’t get overwhelmed, I’ll offer just one solution per week. 

First up, those God-forsaken buses. You can beat your chest for years and spend billions in your campaign telling people what you have done or what you will do for us, but while we still see something as blatant as a smoke-belching bus driving like a bat out of hell and breaking every law known to man, it’s all just background noise. They are the ambassadors to the republic of anarchy and you’ll have no hope in hell convincing people you are capable of fixing a country when you can’t fix something as basic as this.

It was reported recently that EDSA has four times the amount of buses than its carrying capacity—and that doesn’t even include the colorum buses. The LTFRB could and should start revoking franchises, but as chairman Francis Tolentino from the MMDA points out, how do you choose which ones to cancel?

Well, start by hauling them all in for a mandatory roadworthiness test for safety, emissions and general vehicle condition. Those that fail, which I’m guessing would probably be more than half, convert them into mobile clinics, remote offices for constructions sites or even living quarters for informal settlers. Then follow this up with a three-strike rule, meaning, any bus company that is involved in one serious accident involving recklessness or negligence, or if the driver acquires more than three traffic infringements in two years, cancel that franchise and don’t issue new ones. 

Now that you have the numbers more manageable, why not demand all bus numbers to be painted on their roofs and implement that controversial RFID system to monitor them all? We took issue with it before for private vehicles, but as these are public utility vehicles, they don’t share the same concern, and it’s the most effective way to weed out the colorum busses. Also, increase the fines. 

Next up, demand they all be fitted with electronic speed limiters. I mentioned this before, but I find it quite odd how you can’t walk into a mall without getting molested by a security guard at each entry point while having the contents of your bag poked at by a magical wooden stick; but for some reason, nothing is done about these speeding busses that are used as deadly weapons on our roads, despite the fact that if you look at the local figures, preventable bus accidents have claimed or ruined more lives than any terrorist attack has on Philippine soil over the last five years. 

This is very basic technology and could be done here to restrict our busses plying EDSA to, say, 50 kph, while provincial busses, especially those running on the North or South Expressway, could be given an 80 kph limit.

I think we can all agree that the soft approach hasn’t worked and too many innocent lives have been lost, so for those that who can’t control their right foot, treat them like the animals that they are and cage them with technology. 

Now that we have lower numbers, as well as RFIDs to monitor volume and electronic limiters to control speed, try herding them to the other side of the road. One reader, who prefers to be anonymous, suggests dedicating the two inner lanes of EDSA instead of the current set up that has them by the kerb. Because as much as we give the bus drivers hell, let’s be honest here, the core problem is that many commuters are also undisciplined and hail them down from wherever they happen to be standing. 

By placing the buses on the innermost lanes nearest to the MRT, you could then build designated loading and unloading bays at the appropriate spots as needed by the commuters. You could utilize the existing overhead pedestrian walkways that commuters can access from the sidewalks and just build stairs going down to the loading bays below so that commuters will be forced to board only in the designated areas. 

If you force discipline on the commuters, the bus drivers will have no choice but to follow suit. And because they are on a lane that encounters less cross traffic than the right lane, you could build a dividing island for most stretches to ensure they stay on their lane allowing a better and unimpeded flow for motorists. This solution allows private vehicles to make an unimpeded right turn or enter an establishment to the right located along EDSA. You may have to tweak some of the U-turn slots, but there are plenty of U-turns that can still be accessed from under or on the actual flyovers. 

Drastic? You bet. But anything less will just show that you’re not serious. 

Again, this is just one. I will share more in the coming weeks and I sincerely hope that one of you rises to the challenge. Because a sure fire way for you people to stay in power is to use the power of the people.

E-mail [email protected].