New Year would always have 12 kinds of fruits—the round varieties—on dining tables to signify thanksgiving for the past and the wish for prosperity in the future. To start off this year in our local world of transport and travel, allow me to suggest having fruits of another kind—low hanging fruits that can be executed immediately, without much cost and fanfare but can have great impact on the road to the relief of motorists and commuters.
1. Reconfigure the road lanes according to those who use them the most—motorcycles and bicycles. Road reconfiguration and proper road space or alternate routes are in order for those who use them the most, therefore those using motorcycles, scooters and bicycles that had dramatically increased lately.
2. Resume provincial bus trips, and utilize the central bus terminals. Current health protocols have caused provincial bus operations to be generally suspended. However, because of demand, unauthorized “colorum” trips continue. Provincial bus operations should be allowed but not to their city terminals. Similar to a triage, central terminals on the outskirts of the metropolis assure better health protocols and will not add to Edsa traffic, now with one lane less due to the Edsa carousel.
3. Address curbside delivery pick-ups and parking. Curbside pick-up of goods and parking has increased, sustaining many businesses in this pandemic but causing undue congestion. The government needs to come out with guidelines—such as strict time usage, not to prohibit or restrict it, but more to regulate its use.
4. Address the sudden proliferation of illegal transport terminals. The pandemic and the reconfiguration of the roads such as the closure of the Edsa U-turns have resulted in buses, jeepneys and taxis terminating along major roads. This needs to be addressed while still in its early stages.
5. With the new roads built, re-allocate the routes for trucks. The long lines of trucks on C5 and Congressional Avenue can now be addressed. With the Skyway and Harbor link done, the timing is right for government to reroute trucks to other roads such as Quirino and Araneta Avenue, among others.
6. Have those pedestrian spaces now. Walkways need not be expensive. Existing roads can be reconfigured with less cost and faster construction time. A good example is the QC GORA lane built on existing road space. This scheme can be immediately replicated in many places, even along Edsa.
7. Maintain the cash lanes in our tollways. Without doubt, cash lanes are needed even later on. Going cashless is good but definitely not in the absolute. Maintaining even just one cash lane will resolve this.
8. Clean up the market areas especially along the major roads. Market activities such as in Balintawak and Baclaran have spilled on the roads, more so during this pandemic. Congestion in these areas need to be addressed with sustained enforcement, especially now.
9. Light up those streets. With more pedestrians on the road even at night, streetlights need to be working all the time.
10. Register those e-scooters and vehicles. While the national law on this is still pending, local governments can begin doing something right now and register these vehicles in their areas.
11. Catch the smoke belchers. We have reveled in the clean air that we breathed in this pandemic with fewer vehicles on the road. Now that we have those jeepneys and buses back, air pollution is starting to creep up again. Enforcement please.
12. Encourage company shuttles. With many companies worrying on possible infection of employees utilizing public transport, company shuttle services need to be pushed by government transport regulators. It can even be a good alternative for displaced public transport operators.
There are definitely many other low hanging fruits that will benefit the sector, but similar to the personal resolutions we make at the start of every year, implementing even a part of this is the challenge for both those in government and us in the private sector. Nevertheless, we commit to working on these low-hanging fruits as we look forward to a better journey, a better travel on the road, this year of 2021. Happy New Year to all.
Thomas “Tim” Orbos is currently a transport policy advisor for an international organization and worked in government on transport and urban development matters. He is an alumnus of Georgetown University and the MIT Sloan School of Management. He can be reached via e-mail at tmo45@georgetown.edu/thomas_orbos@sloan.mit.edu