The head of the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB), Alberto Suansing, has finally realized that there are already too many buses on EDSA (Epifanio delos Santos Avenue). He announced that the LTFRB will stop processing new applications for bus franchises. They should have done that a long time ago. In fact, the LTFRB should cancel the franchises of some buses plying EDSA. There are too many buses on EDSA and they serve no useful purpose except clog that main artery.
If land transportation officials—from Transportation Secretary Leandro Mendoza to Chairman Bayani Fernando of the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA), and yes, Mr. Suansing—would only leave their cushy, air-conditioned offices and stand for a few minutes on EDSA, they would see that too many buses are lined up bumper-to-bumper along EDSA, all of them near-empty, even during rush hours. All of the passengers carried by these buses can be accommodated in less than half of their number. So why not phase out half of them, ease the traffic congestion on EDSA and save billions of pesos spent to import fuel?
It makes you wonder how these buses earn a profit when they waste precious fuel running almost empty. If they are losing, they would have ceased operations by now. But the fact that too many of them are in fact still plying EDSA despite the dearth of passengers means that they are making a profit. And that can only mean that they are overcharging the few passengers who ride in them. Yes, the few bus passengers are paying for all the empty seats. Which means, further, that the LTFRB has been remiss in protecting the riding public by making sure the passenger fares are fair and reasonable.
MMDA Chair Fernando keeps saying that it would have a system whereby buses would be kept at terminals and dispatched only as needed to ease the traffic on EDSA. He has been saying that for a long time already but until now he has not started implementing it.
On the contrary, he has worsened traffic jams by allowing provincial buses to load and unload on the congested city streets. He also allotted one lane of EDSA to provincial buses and made the spaces under the flyovers terminals and loading-unloading zones for provincial buses. With two lanes already reserved for city buses, that leaves only half of the six-lane EDSA for all the other vehicles—private cars, cargo trucks, taxicabs, delivery vans, SUVs, jeeps and motorcycles.
Motorcycles, ahh, there’s another growing problem. The number of motorcycles plying city streets is growing at an alarming rate. This is so not only because motorcycles can snake in and out of traffic jams and even use the sidewalks but also because the Japanese manufacturers are aggressively pushing their sales by selling them on easy installments.
Motorcycles are ideal for deliveries, especially for fast-food orders, but they are also unsafe and are terrible noise and air polluters. What’s more, motorcyclists are not subjected to the same stringent tests as drivers of four-wheeled vehicles when they apply for driver’s licenses. The growing number of accidents involving motorcycles attests to this. Not a day passes without a fatal accident involving motorcycles in the streets of Metro Manila.
Tricycles are already a serious problem. Many areas have too many of them and local government units should already stop issuing franchises. But franchises are a rich source of illicit income for fixers and corrupt government officials and employees, plus tricycle driving and operations are a means of livelihood for many poor families. So mayors need political will not only to stop accepting applications for tricycle franchises but also to phase out some of them.
Jeepneys are still another problem. The jeepney evolved out of the World War II jeep. It provided much-needed transportation after the war and now it is an icon of Filipino folk art.
It is still needed in the provinces where there is a lack of transportation—but no longer in the cities. Yet the body builders of Cavite and Las Pińas keep churning them out and the LTFRB keeps issuing franchises for them. The jeepney terminals all over the cities show there already is an oversupply of jeepneys. Jeepney drivers spend more time sleeping in their jeepneys at the terminals than plying their routes. That probably is a good way of avoiding the nagging of their wives but they waste plenty of man-hours that can be used for more useful pursuits.
Many rural areas still lack transportation. Farmers wait hours to get a ride to town and farm produce rot in the farms and along roadsides waiting for the occasional ride to market. So why doesn’t the LTFRB phase out jeepney franchises in the cities and give their operators and drivers incentives to operate in the provinces where people need them more?
Which brings us back to the provincial buses. Aren’t provincial buses supposed to operate in the provinces? They should stay out of the crowded city limits with terminals at Alabang and Valenzuela in Bulacan. So why has Bayani Fernando not only allowed them to enter Metro Manila but also allowed them to load and unload on city streets, reserved one lane for them on EDSA and made the space under the flyovers their parking lots and terminals?
Not only that, colorum buses from the provinces are still operating in Metro Manila under the noses of the MMDA and the LTFRB.
The way to decongest EDSA is to cancel the franchises of many buses. But how do you choose which ones to phase out and which ones to retain?
Easy. Cancel the franchises of buses (and jeepneys and tricycles) that incur three violations. Three strikes and you’re out. Give them franchises to operate in the provinces instead where they are needed.
