Other alternatives than simply banning

Solving the traffic on EDSA has been a challenge for every Metro Manila Development Authority regime, and all sorts of solutions have been adopted (and some eventually discarded), but the problem has persisted – and even worsened.

EDSA remains a favorite passageway of more than two million vehicles a day either going south or north of Metro Manila, or to any of the metropolis’ 17 local government units. Designated as National Route 1 or N1, this 23.8-kilometer highway is also the most congested in the country.

This time around, MMDA’s bright idea is to ban all provincial buses from unloading or loading passengers along EDSA, and more controversially, removing all provincial bus terminals in Metro Manila and relocating them elsewhere.

The proposal, backed by a MMDA regulation, was supposed to be implemented at the start of the month, but a late May filing by concerned lawmakers for the Supreme Court to stop the MMDA from implementing the ruling has prevented this.

More importantly, affected commuters are not happy about having to go to the MMDA-designated provincial bus exchange terminals at the outskirts of the metropolis instead of those along EDSA, conveniently located mostly in Cubao and Pasay.

Alternatives

MMDA and the mayors of Metro Manila have since 2015 tried to remove provincial bus terminals along EDSA. Ingress and egress of the buses have been known to contribute to traffic along EDSA, and complicated further by taxis or private vehicles bringing or picking up passengers. During days preceding and after long holidays, the traffic congealing at these bus terminals is worse.

Yet, to say that provincial buses are a major cause of traffic on EDSA is an exaggeration, and cannot be used as basis to revoke the terminal permits of all 47 affected bus companies.

Provincial buses, especially those that go straight from their terminal of origin to their terminal of destination, are still one of the most efficient people carriers by land to and from the metro and provinces – at least until the country starts operating better rail trains.

Thus, a better alternative for MMDA would be to require provincial bus terminals to use entrances and exits on side streets to avoid aggravating traffic flow on EDSA. Not allowing provincial buses to load and unload passengers on EDSA would ease traffic congestion, even if by a fraction.

However, not allowing them to pass through EDSA will mean that commuters who need to go out of town will have to get their alternative transportation, definitely smaller the provincial buses, to get to the out-of-town terminal exchanges. This will add more vehicles on EDSA.

Too many vehicles

What needs to be stopped is the current plan of the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) to add 14,000 premium new taxis, thousands of new UV Express vans, 2,000 new point-to-point buses in Metro Manila, and even more Grab ride-hailing vehicles.

It doesn’t make sense to ban the 4,000 efficient provincial buses from traversing EDSA by replacing these with more than five times the number other public transportation vehicles, not to mention new private cars that continue to be sold even with higher automotive vehicle taxes.

More vehicles clogging EDSA increase the risk of accidents, which only aggravates traffic flow, just like what happened last Thursday. Even a stalled vehicle or minor road repairs could cause further slowing down of traffic that could stretch for kilometers. Don’t even mention prolonged rains and heavy downpours that could turn EDSA into a parking lot, easily turning a two-hour commute into six hours.

Orderly city bus system

What MMDA could do in the interim to ease traffic congestion on EDSA is to do away with multiple franchises of city buses that ply defined routes, and instead adopt a scheduling system whereby buses stop to pick up passengers during predetermined times.

We have seen how most cities in the world successfully operate an orderly city bus system that picks up commuters at a designated time and brings them to their destination at an expected time. There’s no jostling by bus drivers for commuters at bus stops, or waiting to get more passengers.

There should be an orderly line of buses, not several trying to race each other to the next stop. Buses that try to overtake each other inadvertently eat up a third lane on EDSA, causing private vehicles to slow down, thus creating additional delays.

The yellow line rule on EDSA sometimes makes little sense especially along stretches when there are no buses using the two designated lanes, while the remaining other lanes for private vehicles are so jam-packed. There should be a law instead against private vehicles that obstruct buses from picking up passengers.

The MMDA should start rationalizing a working city bus system that allows the right number of buses to ply EDSA at any given time, driven by competent drivers who are paid by the day and not by the number of trips they make or the number of passengers they carry.

Other PUVs 

P2P buses and UV Express vans are a good innovation to augment other public transportation modes in Metro Manila, and the latest ruling of MMDA prohibiting the UV Express vans from dropping off passengers along EDSA is a welcome move.

The MMDA and LTFRB just need to come up with a better system to rationalize the number of these public utility vehicles, including Grab vehicles and taxis, to augment the light rail trains and a systematic city bus network.

And yes, please leave the provincial bus system alone. Like they say, if it ain’t broken, there’s no need to fix it.

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