Equality in transport services

In a truly democratic society, services are equally distributed to all citizens, but as we have opined in our previous writing, the government has to recognize the inherent disadvantages of the poor and underprivileged sectors, especially in their limited ability to access resources and opportunities. We have proposed some possibilities for the housing sector last week, but this should extend to the transportation sector, the two together being contributory to the highest expenditure of a family in relation to its family income.

But let us be clear here -what is the responsibility of government to its people with respect to transportation? Is it to provide each of the 100 million Filipinos with cars? Is it to provide free transportation for everybody so that they can go to the mall on Saturdays? Or, we can be realistic about it and conclude it is primarily to ensure that people can go to their places of work each day to become productive citizens of this country. The goal is to move the most number of people within the least reasonable time at the lowest cost possible. The key elements of this goal are "people," "time," and "cost."

In a democracy, this should be done in a way that is equitable to the poor as well as inclusive to all. This covers actually three areas -infrastructure, service, and costs. Let's tackle infrastructure first. When government provides for infrastructure, this translates firstly with the building of roads and bridges for land transportation, usually measured in kilometers and meters of assumed standard road width lanes. By mere geometric reality, a 4-lane road has twice the vehicle capacity of a 2-lane road if we measure in terms of vehicles. Which we should not!

The government's responsibility is to its people, and to assure that each one should be provided the same equal road space as the other Filipinos. So, when we start calculating the road space needed by a standard car, with 2 to 4 passengers, and compare it to the road space for a standard bus, with 60-80 passengers, we immediately see the inequality. If we designate one lane for cars and one lane for buses, in a 4-lane road (two in each direction), we immediately see that the bus lanes can carry 10 to 20 times more than car lanes. That alone indicates efficiency. If efficiency alone is the sole criteria for infrastructure provision, then government should build bus lanes only. Actually, it's not bus lanes only but public mass transportation as a whole.

There are no issues when there is enough road space available. The problem arises when vehicle numbers increase much faster than government can build roads. And building more roads is not the answer because that alone produces even more congestion. The key is efficiency, and not just capacity. Ultimately, government has to go back to its original mandate -that of moving the most number of people within the least reasonable time at the lowest cost possible. Moving most number of people, not most number of vehicles. People, not vehicles.