Window-less
This is one of the rare times the tongressmen made sense, when they said that authorities “already have the power to effect change in the transportation sector” and have not taken advantage of “low-lying (sic) fruits or issues that can already be addressed even without emergency powers” that the Department of Transportation is asking Congress to grant.
Sure, the traffic situation in Metro Manila – as well as in Cebu and Davao, some claim – has long reached crisis proportions, but with the unlamented former secretary out of the picture for over three months now, it unfortunately seems very little has changed.
I recall pinning the former secretary down on five low-hanging fruits that he promised to deliver before he steps down; of the five only one was delivered – the P-to-P (point-to-point) buses that last week saw the introduction of doubledeckers. How I wish there was a San Juan-to-Port Area bus so I wouldn’t have to wrassle with traffic every day!
To date, the MRT on EDSA is still suffering glitches – seven times it broke down one day the other week – and I don’t see new trains being added (whatever happened to the 48 new coaches from Dalian?). Car plates are slowly being released (for renewals I think they’ve reached plates ending in 3); driver’s licenses too, now with validity of five years, according to a report.
Is three and a half months too short a time to expect positive, significant change? How long will it take to train traffic enforcers to actually enforce the rules, consistently and not selectively (do all of them even know the rules)? What will it take to make roads roads again instead of parking lots or extensions of construction projects (a condo project I pass on my way to work simply blocks off the street for its concrete mixers and delivery of materials, leaving it up to us to seek out a detour)?
How long will it take to discipline bus and jeepney drivers and make them fall in line and stop only where they are supposed to instead of waiting two, sometimes three, abreast and taking up practically the entire road space? This happens a lot on EDSA – just last Sunday I was stuck behind buses stopped three abreast northbound near the Ortigas intersection to load and unload passengers – and on other major roads as well.
They’re now experimenting with no-window hours on certain main roads (EDSA, C-5, Roxas Blvd., Alabang Zapote) for cars coded on that day. Makati, Mandaluyong and Las Piñas are likewise no-window areas. This is supposedly in anticipation of the 20 percent expected increase in traffic volume due to the approaching holidays, and will be in effect until Jan. 31, with the caveat that the scheme could be made permanent if it significantly eases traffic on those roads.
Since we have no choice, we will do our part and adjust (thank goodness for Uber, a friend said; it’s taxi time again, said another). We can only hope that authorities will in turn do their part, with or without emergency powers.