Momentary distractions

After the antics of the Vice President made international news recently, I looked up her midnight press conference on YouTube to see what all the fuss was about. Optics was very bad. A Zoom recording of the Vice President in the dark, conversing with people off-camera, was like watching the horror movie “The Blair Witch Project.” Gone was the handsome face once associated with Fiona of the kiddie film “Shrek.” Her rage and ranting resembled that of rape-slay convict, former Calauan mayor Antonio Sanchez. All these were a welcome distraction to everyday concerns like commuting to class and the traffic that builds up in the countdown to Christmas.

For many who live south of the metro, the point-to-point (P2P) bus that ran from One Ayala to UP Town Center was a lifeline. It was a welcome alternative to driving or taking Grab. On a good day, the trip from Makati to Quezon City takes 40 minutes. On a bad day, the trip from QC to Makati takes two hours. For some strange reason, P2P was not allowed on the dedicated bus lane even if it just passed and didn’t stop anywhere on Edsa. Later on, the P2P was tolerated on parts of the bus lane, making the northbound trip faster. Like many bright ideas, the Ayala-UP Town route was too good to be true. A month ago, service became spotty. Buses from the Makati side did not arrive and leave on time, then scheduled trips were canceled forcing commuters to wait an hour or two for the next bus or take Grab. Then, the route was discontinued. We who depend on the service wish that: UP, Ateneo, and Miriam negotiate for a limited run in the morning and evening to serve students, professors, and employees.

Ateneo once contracted a bus company to transport people from Quezon City in two routes: northward to Fairview and southward to Bonifacio Global City. Buses departed from the Loyola campus with a guard onboard to convince parents that their entitled kids would be secure on public transport. If the experiment worked, it would reduce road congestion. Imagine the ripple effect of one bus transporting 50 people instead of 50 cars each taking one passenger. If the route was not commercially viable, how could it be made so?

The bus service I took was ill-advised to invest in a dedicated fare-card system instead of taking cash, GCash, debit cards, or Beep cards at the terminals. Theirs was a complicated solution to the simple problem of securing collected fares. So far, this has been the second failed experiment with direct public transport to the UP-Ateneo area. During its run, readers were surprised to find me on public transport. More so, on a tricycle from Ateneo to UP Town Center to connect to the P2P service. Readers can’t believe I walk in Makati doing my part to return pedestrian priority on the streets ignored by motorcycle drivers.

Pedestrians can now walk from the MRT Ayala Station through One Ayala, Glorietta, Landmark, and Greenbelt to Makati Medical Center close to Buendia. Walking in the city could be improved by rethinking the “no passersby policy” implemented by building administrators with no thought to public good. Some buildings straddle two streets with doors on each side. Instead of allowing pedestrians to easily pass through the building from one street into the other, the “no passersby policy” forces people to walk all the way up or down a street to connect to another. Ayala Avenue has buildings built close to each other, why didn’t anyone think of pedestrian access through these buildings, and foot bridges in the gaps, allowing access from Edsa-Ayala corner to Buendia? Walkway can be open from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. Costs can be charged to corporate social responsibility or given a real estate tax incentive by the Bureau of Internal Revenue and the City of Makati. It is a low-lying fruit to improve quality of life.

On the streets, revenue can be generated from fines collected from motorists who do not give pedestrians priority on a crosswalk. Enforcers and deputized security guards manning traffic in Makati and the Ateneo campus should be reoriented to return right-of-way to pedestrians rather than cars and motorcycles, except during the rush hour when traffic should be flowing. In Ateneo crosswalks without a guard, I challenge motorists to slow down or stop. Traffic rules dictate that motorists should slow down before a “Ped Xing” and give pedestrians priority. If I demand this outside the Ateneo campus, motorists will honk and curse. Once, in the posh Salcedo area, a driver purposely swerved close to push me off the road.

Call me old-fashioned but I hold doors for the person walking behind me. I keep quiet in an elevator. I challenge two people hogging a step on an escalator to take one side and allow me to overtake. Small mindful courtesies can make life in the Metro easier but then friends tell me “you travel too much.” I should grin and bear it because “it’s more fun in the Philippines.”

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