Road Sense
The new normal is rolling into our lives, literally.
We are, by now, used to having food and groceries delivered to our houses. Shopping for merchandise, even home appliances, is now done online. A blood test is now done at the comfort of one’s home through the services of medical laboratories.
The latest addition to products and services that have been put on wheels is an optical shop which only last week launched its mobile version. Two days later, when we discovered this service, we could not book an appointment for that optical store on wheels to visit our house because it was fully booked till the end of July!
There is a big demand for an optical store-on-wheels. After four months of community quarantine, those who use eyeglasses need either to have new ones made (because they have overused their spectacles), or to have their eyes checked for the proper grade (because many of us used the lockdown time to read).
The “fully booked” status of that mobile optical store confirms that demand.
That’s not the only mobile service that is coming our way as we get used to the new normal. A bank who had designed a mobile ATM machine before the pandemic continues with the service. I heard a salon-on-wheels may be next to step into the business left by the spas who offered home service before the lockdown.
It’s a good time for vehicle manufacturers to study the possibilities of more products and services going mobile. Why wait for the businessmen behind the brands to think of a new marketing platform?
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Bike racks at the train station
Here’s good news to motorists who are thinking about biking at least once a week.
You can take your bike to the train station and then take the train to your destination. The Department of Transportation (DOTr) has started installing bicycle racks at LRT-1 and 2, MRT-3, and PNR transit lines. And the use of the bike racks are free of charge, but cyclists need to bring their own padlocks.
At the LRT-1 line, bicycle racks have been installed at the Central, Libertad stations, EDSA Taft, and soon at Baclaran station. The rail line also has bike racks at its depot for employees.
At the LRT-2, bike racks have been installed at the Legarda station.
The Light Rail Transit Authority (LRTA) is also setting up racks at the Pureza, V. Mapa, J. Ruiz, Gilmore, and Betty Go-Belmonte stations.
The bikes can be parked at the racks from 5 a.m. to 8 p.m.