Kicking out bus companies out of Edsa won’t give the area a breather. The volume of passengers going in and out of Metro Manila will still remain constant. They have to be ferried just the same even if the provincial bus terminals along Edsa were to be transferred elsewhere.
A supplementary transport system has to be added to fill in the vacuum that will be created by the relocation of the bus companies from Edsa. Jeepneys, AUVs and, yes, buses. They will have to be augmented to match the volume of commuters coming in from the north or south of Metro Manila. Thus, the relocation of bus companies from Edsa to ease traffic in that area is irrelevant.
What about an alternative for companies to adopt a double shift in their employees’ working schedule? For example, 50 percent will work from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., while the other 50 percent will work from 11 a.m. to
8 p.m. This could help stagger the volume of traffic in Metro Manila.
Of course it will incur additional air-conditioning load for the three-hour extended period, but overall, the benefits and savings add up to more than the fuel and the inconvenience experienced in traffic jams.
NOEL VILLARAZA, nev.mjj@gmail.com