Are we there yet? The new guy
CEBU, Philippines - From his admission that he knows nothing about traffic management, to his acknowledgement that he owns a lot of motor vehicles, the main city’s new traffic czar has been the talk of the social media town. Well, to be fair, he’s not the talk of the town based on those aspects alone. His exceptional management skills, keen eye for solutions, and outright bluntness when dealing with the media have also landed him praises from his peers.
In a recent interview, this new traffic czar admitted that he had no background in traffic management. This may come as a cause for concern for some. But despite that handicap, he successfully decongested the controversial Ban-Tal corridor. Now, think about his predecessors who were pompously waving their traffic management diplomas and doctorates in the air, yet couldn’t do squat about the Ban-Tal corridor. Wouldn’t that make you stop and think about how illogical this whole scenario is? Well, that’s just it. It is illogical. Or is it?
One can stop to ask, how can people who claim to have all the degrees necessary to solve traffic congestion fail miserably, while this new guy, who has none such credentials to his name, solves the issue in less than a month? The answer can be summed up in four words, common sense, and political aspirations. The new guy has a lot of the former and none of the latter, while the other guys had none of the former and a whole lot of the latter.
While the old guys were busy pleasing everyone by inconsistently implementing traffic policies that allegedly favoured ‘friends who can give them votes,’ the new guy implemented policies that favored no one and benefited everyone.
Now, one may argue that his new Ban-Tal scheme has made it inconvenient for public commuters, since they are having to get off places that were never previously part of the public utility transport’s route. But ask yourself this, did you get to your destination sooner than before? If the answer is yes, then just shut up and be thankful.
Despite how it seems, I am not cooing and wowing over this new traffic czar. I am just appreciative of his efforts to find solutions without worrying about whether his actions would affect his popularity in the coming elections. He has even admitted that fixing the traffic problem in the city is a gargantuan task. And he is right. There is no overnight or insta-fix solution. As one popular Q&A goes, how do you eat an elephant? Piece by piece.
And just like piece by piece, I hope that the other component cities in the province will employ traffic czars with common sense. I mean, how can you claim to be a Kapitolyo if the traffic management in your city is worse than that of a provincial town?
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