Easing our way back to normal in transportation

All these weeks and months since COVID19 emerged to threaten people’s lives, it has been a battle for the governments between keeping people safe from the virus and helping them survive the sudden loss of livelihood.

The lockdowns, requiring people to stay at home, did help to keep down infections and deaths. But there are so many people in this country who need to work every day just to earn enough for food. We are now in the process of easing the lockdown restrictions, but we have to continue the delicate balancing of interests between health and economy.

When the Department of Transportation started allowing some public transportation to return as some offices and industries were reopened in Metro Manila, the first few days saw many people unable to get rides, as buses and light rails had to limit their passengers, so as to maintain the required one to two-meter distancing between people.

Motorcyclists were not allowed to have passengers, not even wives and other family members, as this would violate the social distancing rule. Last Friday, the Department of Health said it was studying to see if wearing a “special suit” would keep a motorcycle driver and his passenger safe from COVID-19.

It might also help if a motorcycle is provided with plastic shields to separate two riders, along with hand-holds on the side so the passenger has something to hold onto during a ride. Similar plastic shields can keep jeepney passengers apart. Jeepneys have not been allowed to operate so far because of the distancing rule.

Since June 1, the start of the General Community Quarantine (GCQ) for Metro Manila, the government has allowed many light trains, point-to-point buses, shuttle services, and taxis to resume operations, but still below the needed capacity.

Allowing motorcycles to have passengers with “special suits,” along with other features that will help promote the needed separation – if not the usual distancing – will help meet the need for more transportation facilities in our slow return to normalcy.