Since the announcement of car-maggedon, which is the upcoming paralyzing effect of having 17 major road projects in Metro Manila being done simultaneously our authorities have been very, very helpful by doling out endless nuggets of advice on how we, the private motorists, can make numerous sacrifices to minimize the congestion.
There have been suggestions like car-pooling, commuting, 4-day school weeks and just re-thinking each trip we take. And they’re great. Thanks. Really. Serious. Very helpful. So please allow us to return the favor.
Yes, we promise to do our bit. But you, our authorities, should also meet us halfway, right? Yes, I thought so. Which is why I have come up with a very short list for you that I think would greatly help ease congestion on our roads. And not just during the construction phase, either. But permanently.
Firstly, put an immediate ban on those Anti Smoke Belching Units (ASBU) that do nothing but create horrendous traffic jams by apprehending private motorists in AUVs, yet wave the real culprits like the jeeps, trucks, and buses past like they were coated in invisible paint.
We’ve all seen or experienced the hypocrisy first hand. They set up at the narrowest choke points in Metro Manila, like the elevated U turns on C5 and underneath the Magallanes flyover etc, creating epic traffic jams that rob us of billions of pesos worth of wasted fuel and man hours, which in turn creates Beijing-levels of unnecessary pollution just to enforce the very law they are violating.
I find the irony of making thousands of cars idle senselessly in an extra 30-45 minutes of traffic just so you can conduct a haphazard pollution test that you should have gotten right the first time when people paid to re-register their car, is as ridiculous as a library announcing their rule on silence over the loud speakers every three minutes. It defeats the entire purpose.
Besides which, by re-doing the test 'randomly' on public roads, all you're basically saying is that you don't trust yourselves. Way to go. Keep going and we’ll name a hole in the ozone layer after you.
Honestly, it is ridiculous. 17 projects or not.
Next, create a total ban on convoys. Funny, you can do it with trucks, which, as annoying as they may be, are actually being productive, but do nothing about the senseless use of vehicles in such a crowded city. Except for the president, perhaps, and the highest public officials with an official PSG security detail, any VIP (Very insecure person) that needs to travel with a bodyguard should not be allowed to do so with a back up vehicle. Make the security team carpool with their boss. They’re going the same way anyway.
And considering how many of these inconsiderate thugs there are out there that travel with an additional 3-4 SUVs in tow and a rent a cop on a big bike, we could effectively remove hundreds, if not thousands, of vehicles immediately. Try it.
If someone has the balls to enforce that, next up, why not try letting the traffic lights do their job. I know it is a radical suggestion, but hear me out. It not only adds to the congestion when traffic enforcers manually override them, it is downright dangerous. Imagine approaching an intersection at sixty and training your eyes on the green light above only to find an enforcer standing there in the middle of the road contradicting it and waving the cross traffic through. Exactly.
And lastly, and perhaps most importantly, make it compulsory for people involved in minor accidents where the vehicles are still drivable, to move their cars immediately after they have taken a picture of the scene. We need to enforce this immediately because the idea of banking up traffic all the way back to 1982 just so we can all wait for a traffic officer to draw a sketch (yes, an actual sketch, just like cavemen did before language was invented) is as ridiculous as walking into Western Union today and asking to send a telegram.
It is 2014. Start acting like it.
There. Those are just 3 simple and very doable suggestions that can go a long, long way to easing up congestion on Philippine roads. Let’s both do our bit. After all, it’s a two way street.
Photo Credit: Gordon Wrigley
