Giving bus drivers a fixed monthly salary is a step in the right direction. First, this will boost their morale as they are now treated like professional 9-to-5 employees, though not necessarily working in those hours. Second, with a monthly take-home pay and a regular work schedule, bus drivers can go home like regular employees, not like the men they used to be—dog-tired soldiers who have just come from battle. Now they have more time to bond with their families and, as some observers suggested, to take that much-needed refreshing shower.
However, the bottom line here is not really the issue of giving what the drivers deserve but what passengers deserve: a faster and safer commute to and from work. Whether or not the scheme will work depends on the strict enforcement of traffic rules and the cooperation of the riding public. Unless commuters do a little leg-work sacrifice by making it a point to take a bus from the nearest bus stop and/or terminal, the scheme is bound to fail. Buses will still be tempted to slow down or stop to pick up lazy passengers who are “idling pretty” along avenues like Edsa and Commonwealth for a public ride.
To solve the bus drivers’ practice of picking up passengers in the wrong places, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority should construct more strategically located bus stops and enjoin drivers to observe this simple rule and refrain from picking up passengers anywhere else.
—POMPEYO S. PEDROCHE,
pspedroche@gmail.com