Obsolete

Last week while in a hurry to print out a letter, but with no printer available, I dusted off my old, reliable Underwood typewriter.

As a reporter I had occasionally lugged around that portable typewriter, in its black faux leather case with shoulder strap, to my trips overseas and overnight assignments outside Metro Manila. With fax machines common in many offices, I was sure my stories, typewritten double-spaced on bond paper, could reach the news desk in a matter of minutes.

This time I was surprised by how heavy a “portable” weighed. At my age, if I carried around something like that on a trip I’d need a speedy but pricey traditional Chinese treatment at Tong Ren Tang to banish the resulting arm and shoulder pain.

I tapped on the keys. I know older journalists who refused to shift to computers because they said they needed the sound of typewriter keys to help them concentrate and write. The sound of the keys was indeed soothing, but I was surprised by the amount of resistance to my fingers.

The Underwood served its purpose; I had a letter printed and signed in just two minutes. Still, I was happy to return to my laptop  – not really light as air, but close enough – with its light to the touch keypad.

Once you find a better way of doing things, you become spoiled by the efficiency and you relegate the old way to the museum.

In our newspaper I was one of those who stubbornly resisted replacing typewriters with desktop computers. One day we arrived at the newsdesk to see all the typewriters gone and replaced with Macintosh computers. Even if the Macs were cute, I had to be dragged kicking and screaming into the digital age. But pretty soon we all wondered how we survived without computers.

* * *

Today there are people who are hooked on the efficiency of Uber, Grab and similar Transportation Network Companies. The Department of Transportation, several steps behind the new scheme and groping blindly for ways of regulating something it cannot fully understand, has been hit by a firestorm of protests. The DOTr and its Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) have bowed to the public outcry and frozen plans to suspend 50,000 drivers of TNCs without permits to operate.

These developments should serve as a warning to traditional taxi services that they have to keep up with the times, to reform or perish.

For its part, the LTFRB must fast-track new rules to govern Transport Network Vehicle Services. The LTFRB will have to tweak the definition of a public utility vehicle (PUV) in drafting rules that will cover the TNVS.

If it’s any consolation to traditional taxi operators and drivers, it doesn’t look like they’re about to become obsolete anytime soon. But the TNCs are eating into a substantial chunk of the taxi market.

The regular taxis still have their pluses. Not everyone likes downloading apps and booking a ride using a mobile phone. Traditional taxis are still ubiquitous and you can hail them anywhere. There are also taxi vans for ride sharing and regular cab fares are cheaper.

But taxi operators should understand what is making people willing to pay more for Uber, Grab and other TNCs. Apart from the convenience of using a phone app to book, plan and track a ride, TNC vehicles are cleaner, better and more comfortable. Since fares are agreed upon before the ride, there’s no chance of being duped with a rigged taxi meter. Commuters aren’t refused a ride or asked for additional payment. And despite occasional bad news about TNC drivers, passengers feel generally safer in the new riding scheme. Parents are willing to entrust their children to the TNCs. Young women aren’t worried about taking an Uber ride even at past midnight.

* * *

In fact our entire system of mass transportation, together with attitudes of the riding public, can use an upgrade.

The other day when Tropical Storm Gorio prompted the cancellation of classes in many schools, I again took the bus to work. My normal travel time in a car was nearly tripled.

The bus trundled along at five kilometers an hour, mainly because it kept picking up and unloading passengers every few meters or so, even in the middle of the street, and right beside large signs prohibiting loading and unloading. Passengers themselves were to blame; they refused to get off at designated stops, preferring to disembark wherever they wanted.

Law enforcement is also to blame. Traffic aides along a main thoroughfare ignored the bus (maybe they got paid to look the other way) as it stopped every 300 meters or so to wait for passengers. At one busy intersection, the bus lingered through three red lights before moving on.

But along one major road, where the traffic police probably did a better job, the bus driver dutifully followed the signs and stopped only at designated spots. Realizing that the anything-goes rule did not apply, people went to those spots and waited for their ride.

Think about it: if commuters waited at designated stops and buses picked up and unloaded passengers only at those spots, it would mean fewer stops and a faster ride for everyone, with more round trips for the bus. The buses might even lure some regular TNC riders. Bus fare is only a tenth of Uber rates.

The LTFRB should also look into the placement of TV sets on buses. The driver of my bus kept glancing up at the TV screen above him and laughing at the cheesy noontime show. That’s distracted driving for you, which further slows down the ride. And even at its snail’s pace, the bus could have figured in an accident.

Such inefficient bus services may one day face stiff competition from the growing number of point-to-point rides, super silent e-buses and the latest – solar-powered conveyances. If this happens, traditional bus service providers would have only themselves to blame.

Like the typewriter, they could render themselves obsolete.