Outsmarting Cebu traffic

Residents and regular commuters in the Banilad-Talamban area know the feeling of having more bad days than good days in the road.

The unpredictable heavy traffic and the lack of discipline of some drivers, not just in Banilad where I live but also in many parts of the metro, used to cause my blood pressure to rise especially when I was in a hurry.

Now, not anymore. Thanks to Grab, Uber and Waze, I think I have outsmarted the traffic.

It started with my parking problem at Qimonda IT Center Complex, the new home of the Cebu City courts. My problem is walking far across a large open parking lot toward the building entrance on an oven-like sunny day.

So I ditched my car at a nearby mall parking space and booked a GrabTaxi ride using my smartphone. That brought me right at the doorsteps of the court house. On my way back to the mall, I booked an Uber ride this time. The Uber driver of a brand new Nissan sedan pointed to her smartphone and asked me if she should follow the nearest route with least volume of traffic as recommended by Waze.

Uber is a transport network vehicle service (TNVS), a new kind of classification in our transportation law introduced by D.O. No. 2015-011 of the Department of Transportation and Communication. Grab has both taxi service (GrabTaxi) and TNVS (GrabCar). These companies do not have their own fleet of vehicles. They rely on services rendered by independent providers operating under their app-based transportation network. Waze, on the other hand, is a traffic guide app. What they have in common is the use of online crowdsourcing and networking in order for drivers and passengers to efficiently navigate their way to their destinations.

I'm not sure how widely these apps are used in Metro Cebu. I asked my friends on Facebook and most of those who replied that they use these apps-based services were millennials.

I think the number one reason why these apps-based services, Uber and Grab in particular, are so attractive to the user is the element of certainty. At the onset, it will show the estimated fare and the remaining time before your booked car or taxi reaches you. Because of the GPS technology embedded in smartphones, you also know where exactly is your hired vehicle located at the moment. Other things probably certain are your safety and the quality of service. The photo and name of the registered driver are flashed and recorded in your phone. There is also a rating system for both driver and passenger.

There are occasional cancelled rides,particularly with GrabTaxi, and the price of the ride fluctuates, with Uber in particular, during peak periods. There are also some sectors which against their operation, especially the taxi drivers who are non-users of Grab. We cannot dismiss the legitimate concerns of these sectors. However, I think these apps-based services are here to stay. The technology fills in a basic demand for efficiency in the transportation sector.

Regarding Waze, it allows me to plan my route right before I leave, or based on the schedule I wrote in my phone calendar. If I have a scheduled meeting for example at UP Cebu in Lahug, Waze automatically plots a route for me and alerts me to the time I have to leave home in order to arrive to the meeting on time.

Waze does this by crowdsourcing data from other users of the app both in real-time and historical traffic reports affecting your route. Through turn-by-turn voice navigation, Waze guides you through your route using real-time data from Waze drivers and passengers already in the road in order to adjust your estimated time of arrival or the recommended route itself. Waze will also warn you if there is an accident ahead and traffic there grounds to a halt.

My wife is worried that it might distract my driving. It does if you keep on tinkering with the app on your smartphone to send road updates to other Waze users. But Waze actually detects your speed through the GPS embedded in your smartphone and shares this data to the system for all Waze users.

These apps-based services are expected to get better and better with time because these are network data-driven technologies. The more data collected and stored from the vast network of individual drivers and passengers, the more "intelligent" and responsive the system becomes.

It was reported yesterday that the LTFRB has suspended the issuance of franchises for TNVS like Uber and GrabCar. The reason the government gave for the suspension is that it still "reviewing existing policies and other relevant and pressing issues regarding the issuance of franchise to TNVS."

Insipid bureaucracy at work, as usual. Meanwhile, I think there is really no stopping or delaying the wide use of these apps-based services.