EDITORIAL - Decongesting EDSA

The test run of a scheme to encourage carpooling was implemented along EDSA on Monday and quickly ran smack into a snag: traffic monitors could not see through heavily tinted vehicles. The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority described it as one of the “birth pangs” of its so-called high occupancy vehicle or HOV lane project.

This birth pang was hardly unexpected. The same problem cropped up the first time this scheme was tried several years ago to reduce vehicle volume along major thoroughfares in traffic-choked Metro Manila.

In that first experiment, another problem that quickly became evident, but which the MMDA could not control, was the use by some motorists of makeshift dummies to pretend that a vehicle had at least two passengers. On a moving vehicle with even lightly tinted windows, it can be impossible to tell the dummies from real passengers.

Necessity compels people to find ways of going around every effort to prevent them from using their own vehicles to move around a crowded mega city. The light railway and commuter train systems have limited service areas and are prone to glitches. Even if the light rail trips follow set schedules and allow people to avoid traffic jams, the long lines for a ride can add hours of waiting to the total daily commute.

Buses and jeepneys, while ubiquitous, take an eternity to reach their destinations as drivers paid on a quota basis ensure that they take as many passengers as possible. Regular taxi services are inadequate and unreliable, while ride-hailing services can be expensive.

Once the test run of the HOV ends, the MMDA plans to apprehend violators. Already, critics are pointing out that the experiment will only aggravate traffic, just like other schemes in the past to limit the road space for private vehicles in congested Metro Manila. Many of those who can afford to buy cars for each member of their family can also afford to hire drivers, so they won’t be affected by the HOV.

Trying to untangle the massive traffic jams in Metro Manila is a daunting task, and the MMDA can be commended for trying. But the carpooling scheme has been tried before, and it ended up in the trash heap.