We know of a top company executive who regularly takes a point-to-point (P2P) bus to get to his office, one from a terminal based in Eastwood in Libis, Quezon City, and another from Nuvali in Santa Rosa, Laguna.
He swears by the convenience, safety and efficiency provided by these P2P buses and does not mind at all ditching his car if public transport services can be this efficient.
An initiative of the Department of Transportation (DOTr), P2P buses are somewhat similar to shuttle buses, or the type of bus service intended to shuttle passengers between two points. In this case, P2P buses often connect Metro Manila’s busiest business districts, thus making commutes between them more streamlined and convenient. There are demands for more routes though, even ones that extend beyond the metropolis. For instance, there is a P2P bus route that connects Clark International Airport and Manila.
We do not know exactly how many P2P bus routes are currently operational. There were at least 22 at the start of 2018 but more have certainly been added—and being added still—a testament to the bus service’s popularity and success.
We welcome and commend this initiative of the DOTr. These P2P buses not only make commuting easier but also help ease the traffic gridlock in Metro Manila.
While P2Ps do not have a dedicated corridor similar to a train, which is what the proposed bus rapid transit (BRT) system for Metro Manila and Cebu would have (a subject of a previous editorial, Don’t give up on the BRT, July 3, 2018), they nonetheless are able to overcome the common problems of bus travel in Metro Manila and other urban centers.
P2P buses ply direct routes to and from specific locations. They leave on time, regardless of the number of passengers. They do not pick up and drop off passengers along the route. Aside from their reliable timetable and a service that does not depend on the volume of passengers, they also have fixed and very convenient terminals located in malls and commercial centers.
P2Ps show that with clever planning and targeted investment, buses can play a key role in public transport. If only all bus services in our cities can offer the same efficiency and convenience. Unfortunately, this is not the case.
For example, there are still buses that operate in Metro Manila without terminals. These buses illegally park on roads and inner city streets, waiting for passengers, with their engines idling, polluting the air in otherwise tranquil residential areas. Their drivers use the sidewalks as their comfort rooms and throw their garbage on the streets.
City buses often ignore dedicated bus lanes and specific loading and unloading zones. They show no road discipline. They operate like jeepneys. They weave in and out of traffic, not caring about the bottlenecks they cause. No wonder, many of them are involved in deadly accidents.
There are hardly any bus stops, or if there are, nobody really waits there, and the buses don’t stop there. And there are no fixed bus schedules.
A lot of these buses are smoke belchers, too. They must have passed the Land Transportation Office’s supposedly strict emissions testing of motor vehicles by the power of grease money.
In a nutshell, city buses operate without rules. On the contrary, P2Ps show what a few rules can do for people who use buses. If we had more efficient bus systems like the P2Ps, more people would not mind ditching their cars to take these buses, like the top executive we earlier pointed out.
Image credits: Jimbo Albano