HOTSPOT
For this weekend’s column, I’m supposed to write a review of a new publication whose topic is close to my heart. But I felt that I have to do a follow-up on last week’s piece on commuting and public transport.
I have been a life-long commuter and loyal passenger of jeepneys, buses, trains, ferries, and planes.
I could clearly remember how I loved the LRT so much, and the tokens which were used long before the cards and Beep. I mapped the route and stations in my head, and enjoyed the traffic-free, cheap and air conditioned travel. I almost instantly memorized the way from Blumentritt to Baclaran, and the walk to the former Baclaran General where a tita was working. I once cut classes in elementary and confidently took an LRT ride to surprise my tita. She was shocked to see me at the hospital lobby.
The relatively-short jeepney ride from Dapitan to Quiapo Ilalim in Manila was an early favorite. It took us to UST, the New Love Theater, the Central Market, and finally Quiapo. The ride back would pass by Dangwa, the Infant Jesus Hospital, and the bus stations going to Ilocos.
As I grew up, the map in my mind expanded. Quiapo is downtown, where many routes to and from Sta. Mesa, the Quezon City projects especially Cubao, far-flung Fairview, Ayala Makati (yes, there were Quiapo-Ayala buses!), and Pasig.
The jeepney lines going further to Taft and to the Pier would pass by Lawton where across the Post Office, we would find the provincial buses.
I’m pretty sure, others like me but who grew up and commuted from other parts of the city, are as familiar with this map we shared in our minds. The Quiapo-Lawton areas were like jeep and bus interchanges, much like Quezon Circle, Cubao, EDSA Crossing, Monumento, Recto, Buendia, Alabang.
It could be argued that up until the opening of the LRT2 line connecting Marikina to Recto, Metro Manila’s commuting public enjoyed a sophisticated network of trains, buses and jeepneys that could give anyone the cheapest ways to go around the city, especially to and from work or school.
It could be argued further that problems went from bad to worse when “traffic solutions” focused more on private cars and private motorists, and less on giving commuters more seats and more transport space. It shouldn’t take a genius to guess the impact of the complete ban on the former city buses plying EDSA, and its replacement by a single EDSA Busway lane with a lot fewer buses than before. Meanwhile, there are more lanes given to private cars which carry less people.
The nearly three-year ban on jeepneys during the pandemic not only destroyed the livelihood of drivers and operators, but also deprived frontliners and essential workers the cheapest mode of intra- and intercity transport in Metro Manila. Not to mention safest — considering the recommendations of global health and transport bodies recommending well-ventilated and open-air public vehicles for pandemic mass transport. Oddly but not surprisingly, the pandemic authorities preferred enclosed and airconditioned buses and no questions asked for private cars.
Those three years were arguably the lowest point for public mass transport, especially jeepneys and loyal jeepney passengers. The President should look into this long, uncompensated period in rethinking the April 30 deadline for so-called consolidation he has said won’t be extended. As a matter of justice and fairness, the deadline should in fact be moved further by three years to account for three years of lost income and lack of adequate support for drivers and operators.
The applause that greeted the president’s announcement of his decision not to extend the deadline bothers many people. We wonder who exactly were applauding and why. We have not seen warehouses full of “modern jeepneys” that will magically appear in the streets on May 1. There’s no indication that the manufacturing sector has, for the past year, been mass producing “modern jeepneys” by the tens of thousands every month.
The question in most people’s minds is: “If there would be no jeepneys by May 1, what would be there for us?” This is a lot truer to people in the provinces where towns are mainly linked by jeepneys, and where capital is more scarce compared to Metro Manila.
What’s needed now are more seats, more lanes, more routes, more jeepneys, buses and train coaches. More, not less public mass transport, in order to move millions.