On commuter trains and Grab, Uber rides

TOKYO, Japan — Surprisingly, commuters in this big and progressive city of Tokyo encounter some of the problems that Filipinos do, particularly when using their trains.

Passengers in train and subway lines of metropolitan Tokyo have complained of being packed like sardines especially during rush hours, squashed against each other, unable to move, and at the mercy of the trains’ movements.

Another familiar complaint, largely from women riders, is the sly groping by lecherous passengers who take advantage of the squeezed conditions. While Tokyo commuters (not ours) regard long delays caused by suicides on the tracks as a big problem, one of our biggest complaints is the prevalence of pickpockets inside the packed trains.

But the differences, as expected, are far too many to count. Rarely do the Tokyo trains encounter mechanical problems, something that had been prevalent in the EDSA line of Metro Manila’s light rail transit system in the recent past.

Even if the metro Tokyo commuters come in droves (8.7 million riders daily, making it the busiest in the world), even during the morning rush hours, it would be rare to see long queues of commuters buying trip tickets, getting through the stiles, and getting on a train.

The trains and stations are super clean (there are no trash bins because commuters keep their litter with them to be thrown in bins outside the train stations), regularly disinfected, and practically everything meticulously wiped and scrubbed.

Schedules are strictly enforced, and delays are rare. Japanese commuters are very courteous (very few talk on their phones, or eat while inside the train), and follow rules and signs (staying on the left side when standing still on an escalator, or using the right side when mobile).

Contrasting

In contrast, with just over 600,000 commuters using Metro Manila’s elevated trains, it seems total chaos every day most especially during the morning and afternoon rush hours. There are no set hours for the trains to arrive and depart, and no set time on how long the trip will take from one station to another.

Filipinos who use the trains carry on juicy conversations with their fellow passenger or another party on a mobile phone call even during transit, which could be annoying or interesting depending on how one would view what is being disclosed.

It’s surprising that President Duterte continues to enjoy immense popular support one year into his term when the metro train system continues to operate at such a dismal state. Having the three lines operating seamlessly may be a bit more challenging and therefore would require more than a year to troubleshoot, but having more trains to ease the congestion…?

The queues persist even before you can enter the gates of a station or even getting out of the train. The comfort rooms are filthy, if there is one functioning; the elevators or escalators are often out of order; and the pre-loaded trip tickets have an expiry date.

Flextime and incentives

While in Japan early this month, the metro Tokyo news was about how the Tokyo Metropolitan Governor Yuriko Koike kicked off a campaign to ease the rush-hour train congestion by introducing flextime among company employees.

Metro Tokyoites, notorious for how strictly they stick to their schedules, are being encouraged to make the trip to their offices earlier. Companies, in support of the initiative, are coming up with incentives just so their workers will consider taking the earlier trains, which are less congested.

Many Japanese companies with offices in Tokyo have joined, and even the Tokyo Metropolitan government is offering special shopping vouchers to those who pass by those truly overcrowded stations earlier in the morning.

The point I’m trying to make here is that, in spite of all the sophistication that the Tokyo train and subway network is known for, an overcrowding issue during rush hours is relentlessly being addressed to hopefully solve commuter woes.

This mindset, I think, is something that Filipino government officials need to have to get things done. But I guess just thinking about how many problems there are confronting Metro Manila’s LRTs give them a headache and make them want to look the other way.

Playing ‘Robin Hood’

Broiling now is the issue of the Land Transport Franchising and Regulatory Board’s decision to ban Uber and Grab drivers that have not gotten their provisional authority (PA) to operate or certificate of public conveyance (CPC). About 30,000 vehicles are supposedly to be affected.

The LTFRB stated that the PA and CPC are regulatory requirements for any app-based driver to operate, and in the absence of such, the companies that operate the app should not have allowed these drivers to ply the roads.

More seriously, Uber and Grab have continued to allow new vehicles to operate using their apps since last year when the transport board imposed a moratorium on the applications for transport network vehicle services (TNVS).

The Uber- and Grab-riding public is infuriated that a transportation mode that offers door-to-door service, have disciplined drivers, operate with utmost transparency, and have improved security and safety features will be affected.

But Grab or Uber, by having accepted vehicles into its app network despite the moratorium on TNVS applications, have clearly defied the law and put at risk the thousands of new vehicle owners they had signed up without checking on their LTFRB permits.

If the two companies felt that the riding public had to be rescued from the decrepit and unreliable taxi drivers and operators, which Uber and Grab were directly competing against, they should have threshed this out with the appropriate government regulators or even Congress.

The public may have thrown their support for their “Robin Hood” acts, but the law needs to be upheld.

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