The sorry state of our transport system

There is a joke here in the Philippines that when you want to break up with your husband or boyfriend – or wife – you better think not twice, not thrice but many times over because you will lose not only a life partner but your best bet for a ride to and from the airport.

Silly as it sounds, the reality isn’t lost on most Filipinos who don’t have a driver and who can’t really afford those expensive airport taxis – although note that these limo-taxis disappear, too during peak seasons such as Christmas time.

The situation is as bad as it gets, especially during the holiday rush. Broadcast journalist Atom Araullo articulated the situation well when he tweeted last Dec. 9 about his experience waiting to hail whatever transportation he could get at the airport upon arriving from an overseas trip.

“Just arrived at the airport from an overseas trip. No coupon taxis, no metered taxis, no Grab. Wala rin tayong mga bus at tren dito. Basically kung wala kang sundo, you’re dead. It’s been an hour and counting. This is what a broken transport system looks like,” Araullo said in his initial tweet.

An hour later, he gave an update.

“Update: was able to book Grab after a little less than 2 hrs. Setting the pick up location to the departure area (T2) worked. Traffic nalang problema, hehe. Wawa yung mga nakapila pa sa taxi though, madalang talaga dating ng mga sasakyan. Salamat sa thoughts and prayers!” he posted.

Atom’s post became viral as a lot of people could relate to it. It likewise drew criticisms as others called it elitist or an act by one who is entitled.

But Araullo stressed that yearning for decent transportation isn’t elitist at all.

He said “a safe, reliable, affordable and efficient mass transport system is good for everyone! Hindi lahat, may kakayahan magpasundo. And even then, it’s ultimately a waste of resources: fuel, time, energy, manpower, money.”

The official Twitter account of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport replied to Atom’s tweet and said the inconvenience faced by the journalist was due to the “heavy traffic around the metro” which has made it difficult for any mode of public transport to get to and from the airport terminals.

Clearly, Araullo put the spotlight on the sorry state of our transport system.

It is true and we all know it. If you don’t have a ride from the airport when you arrive, you really do have a big problem.

Commuting isn’t the easiest thing to do, especially coming from the country’s main gateway.

Connectivity problems

We are probably among the few airports around the world where there is no train connecting the gateway to the metropolis.

And yet, we want to turn to tourism to tide us over as we recover from the onslaught of the COVID-10 pandemic.

“Bisita be my guest,” goes our latest tourism slogan. It is trying hard and embarrassingly silly but even worse is how our visitors would actually feel when they arrive at the airport without a ride to their hotel.

Metro Manila subway

It’s time we have lasting solutions to our transportation problems.

I hope the planned Metro Manila subway, which was proposed to the government, will finally be in full swing.

This was proposed as far back as 1973 as part of the Urban Transport Study in Manila Metropolitan Area conducted by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and former Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) secretary David Consunji, the late engineering tycoon.

At present, we have another shot at this subway.

The P488-billion project, funded by Japan, will stretch for about 33 kilometers across seven cities and promises to reduce travel time between Quezon City and NAIA to just 35 minutes.

The subway is expected to partially open in 2025 and become fully operational by 2028.

This is good news and I am personally looking forward to it, although right-of-way issues may delay the project.

Nevertheless, the government and the private contractors need to do all they can to speed up the construction of the subway.

Hopefully, this would also resolve the horrible traffic jams in Metro Manila.

Better Philippines

Alex Serrano, an engineer, said one way to help ease traffic congestion in Metro Manila is to put up covered and elevated walkways in four strategic areas.

These areas are the Crossing Area in Mandaluyong and surrounding business centers; the Quezon Memorial Circle in Quezon City; the Makati central business network and Bonifacio Global City in Taguig.

In Quezon City for instance, he said, the much-awaited MRT-7 Line will soon start operations. “I believe that building a network of covered elevated walkways around the Quezon Memorial Circle will definitely help thousands of commuters once they disembark at the MRT7 Quezon Memorial Station in reaching their destinations,” he said.

This would encourage many car owners to leave their cars at home. I believe that these suggestions make sense. Other countries have elevated walkways, which make going around easy and convenient.

But more importantly, I believe having an efficient public transport system – which shouldn’t feel like walking the gauntlet as it is at present – is key in easing traffic congestion in Metro Manila.

Filipino tycoons I’ve had the chance to be with overseas for press events usually just take public transportation whenever they are in a foreign country, something they wouldn’t dare try here.

We all deserve a reliable, safe, affordable and convenient ride around Metro Manila or from the airport whenever we come home to the Philippines.

More importantly, we don’t deserve to be stuck in an ugly relationship or in a bad marriage just because we need a ride to and from the airport. OK, that’s an exaggeration but you get my point.

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Email: [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @eyesgonzales. Column archives at EyesWideOpen on FB.