Change Part 1 – Reviving the Metro

Almost every day it is a long arduous journey through dirty, congested and polluted roads throughout Metro Manila. That is what common commuters of my age had to endure for as long as we can remember. Every summer there is the heat of the sun and the congestion of traffic that heats up every part of your body including your head (and so your temper goes…). Come rainy season and you had to pass through ‘water worlds’ and I did have an experience where I had to jump from stone to stone and keep myself balanced a la Indiana Jones while a ‘white-water torrent’ flows beneath me (excuse the exaggeration). There is also the dirt and the stink, especially in the older and more crowded sections of the Metro. And last but certainly not the least, the lack of discipline of the pedestrians and the people controlling the vehicles crowding the already congested avenues.

It is becoming a hassle to commute not only in Metro Manila but in the other urbanized parts of the country as well. But it wasn’t always thus… Forms of media had already portrayed pictures, paintings and engravings and the like of what our Metro looked like merely a few decades ago. And from what they show, and comparing them to present pictures you would ask… what happened?

Clearly, it was the result of mismanagement, seeing how our closest neighbour countries had fared with regards to transportation among a lot of other things. However, I would not be discussing those problems here (in another article maybe). Instead I would speak about what had been and can be done.

For decades now, remedies had been made to ease the burden of travellers and commuters in our Metro, the most recent of those being the construction of the Metro Manila Skyway which began in 1995. This is still ongoing, as the third stage of its construction began just this February 17, 2014. The venture strived to ease the flow of traffic in our metropolitan area, but this alone would not be enough to really improve the state of our transportation systems.

Even with the improvements of the past decades, like the Skyway and the rail transits (LRT I, II and MRT), there are still changes needed for us to measure up to our neighbours when it comes to transportation and urban organization and beautification. And the answer doesn’t entirely lie in projects and renovations (that are sometimes making things worse… more on that later…) but we, the people ourselves.

I transferred to a government agency almost a year ago and my office is now located in the heart of Manila proper. Before that I worked in a private BPO company in Makati’s Ayala business district for six years and the comparison between the old and new workplace couldn’t be more profound. Now, especially in the rush hours I had to elbow my way amongst the multitude of people who are lost and confused as to when and where they really should cross the street and where to go. To add to this, sometimes the traffic lights are not functioning and when they are, they are not being followed by motorists but instead, the traffic aides who don’t seem to know how to calculate the right intervals on when which side should stop or go. And, as a personal experience, some drivers would stop at a corner even when the light says ‘go’ to pick up passengers and since others would follow, a traffic jam would surely ensue.

So picture this… on a typical crossroads in downtown Manila (near where I now work), people would see the ‘go’ sign for pedestrians light up so they will cross the street. Then, a traffic aide would make one side go but would be stopped by the throng of pedestrians crossing. Once the pedestrians are gone, the vehicles would rush to beat the red light. The traffic aide would let all of them pass, not knowing that the light had turned red and it’s the other side’s turn to go. Those who saw the green light would now be met by the vehicles that rushed to beat the red light. And so on and so forth, resulting in a domino effect that leads to loud honking and cursing and running (in the case of the pedestrians) and the pollution just makes it worse. And then traffic would be worsened by the many untimely road renovations. Chaos. I was able to picture this because I had experienced these personally.

Like I’ve said, I used to work in the Ayala business district and have compared my past and present work environs. And so I ask… why can’t most of Metro Manila do what was done in Ayala and BGC (Bonifacio Global City in Taguig)? The buses have assigned loading and unloading areas and in Ayala, there are clean subterranean walkways to ease the flow of people traffic in the avenues and everything is clean and organized. This is the same as our Southeast Asian neighbours. I had personally been in Hong Kong and had heard enough about Singapore. We could see how organized and clean everything is. And enough media had been broadcasted to see that this is the same with our other Southeast and East Asian neighbours.

So what do we need? Of course, there’s discipline. We really need to develop that in order to not let the costly projects made to relieve our discomforts go to waste. Once the Stage 3 of the Manila Skyway is completed on 2016 (if the schedule was followed), there would be a noticeable change in the volume of vehicles passing through the main thoroughfares, especially EDSA. If there is no discipline and proper planning though, eventually, everything would go back to disorganization. So, as soon as the Stage 3 was opened, the same plans that made Ayala and BGC so organized should be implemented throughout Metro Manila at once, before everything reverts back to square one. This means that since its only two years from now, said planning must begin as soon as possible this year. And then, all forms of media should be properly utilized to communicate these said plans and programs to the people.

Then, after a certain period of time and all is well and organized when it comes to traffic and pedestrian flow, that’s when the restoration of the city to its former beauty can begin. It would be now easier, since the people are more organized, to clean and beautify, especially the old districts of Manila which old pictures make us reminisce and want to change everything. Of course, not only the land but also the waters should be restored to cleanliness… like the Pasig, Marikina and San Juan rivers and all the creeks. And then… the air… There had been bills and proposals before that had advocated the use of biofuels for our transportation means. And recently, there had been ‘test drives’ of electronic vehicles. Why not REALLY use them in the near future? It may be true that I would, in the very near future, be owning an automobile, but if there is a way to modify it to contribute to the decrease of pollution, then I would avail it.

If I only have the power to do all of what I just wrote, I would ‘walk the talk’, but I don’t have the power. However, there are people who DO have. And like I said, the action must really come from us, the people, ourselves. We may be presented with these new plans and projects, but without the proper state of mind that would tell us to innovate and contribute to the improvement of our country, it would all go to waste.

Of course, the steps I envisioned would take years or decades even, but like a lot of things in this world, we all need patience. And in the course of things, our country would finally reclaim its position as one of Asia’s foremost countries. And yet, obviously, these aren’t the only things we need to change.

So obviously there’s more to come…

April 11, 2014