An Uber driver’s story
He’s not just an Uber driver but the owner of his car. That’s just how it is now with many of Transport Network Vehicle Services (TNVS) entrepreneurs. The novelty of this new business form, with seemingly high profit rates has driven thousands to buy new cars (which come at incredibly low down-payments, too) and drive their way to modestly high daily incomes. With flexible working hours to boot -you drive at your own schedule!
The one I happened to ride with last Thursday spoke Tagalog, which surprised me and prompted me to inquire further. Apparently, he and his wife transferred here in 2016. There was an opening in Mactan and they grabbed it. I asked why and his reason floored me -because they lived in Cavite, and it took four hours for his wife to go to the office every day! I said “Ha?” forgetting he might not understand Cebuano. “Four hours, as in eight hours a day to and from work?” He said yes, which left me speechless for a while…my mind spinning.
I’ve heard worse, actually. During the LTFRB consultation last Dec. 12, a worker in Manila narrated how it took him five hours going to work each day, and five hours back, and why he shifted to “habal-habal,” which cut the trip to around two. But hearing it personally from this driver made it more real. He left his work in a cruise ship and transferred with his wife here. He bought a car and drove an Uber service. I maybe lukewarm to this TNVS issue because I know it doesn’t address congestion (unless it’s a TNVS carpool), but we can always recognize the ease and convenience TNVS provides commuters. It’s easy to use and, at least, if you’re stuck in traffic, you’re comfortable.
But we should always remember that traffic congestion is everyone’s concern. We can look and work at it individually, or concertedly as a society. Many are on their own, beating red lights, violating rules and regulations, mind you -even with the 30-day threat of being impounded, cutting corners, and generally getting ahead of everybody else. We need to understand it’s a zero-sum game -any advantage you gain is somebody else’s loss. Today, you may win, but tomorrow you may lose. If society doesn’t work together, we wake up each day, day by day, till next month, and year, as our travel time to work keeps getting longer and longer. Maybe we will wake up someday, getting to work after a 4-hour trip! Then we might be the ones tempted to transfer to another city!
Our data clearly shows that traffic congestion is mainly caused by cars. Not by jeepneys, motorcycles, tricycles, or anything else, but cars. And traffic congestion, with much help from the low down-payments, of course, cause people to buy cars. On a spree! Literally. We’re chasing our own tails, spiraling out of control until gridlock. Then we walk or bike, going back to where we started before cars appeared.