Cauayan Airport arrival
I have so far never failed to take photos of the airports I have gone through in my travels here or abroad. The following photos are of Cauayan Airport in Cauayan City, Province of Isabela in the Cagayan Valley Region (Region 2) to the north-northeast of Metro Manila.
Taxiing towards the apron and the terminal. One can also see the control tower to the right.
Passengers walk to the terminal with each given an umbrella to shield themselves (partially) from the punishing heat of the sun. Isabela is one of those provinces where the heat indices reach well above 45 degrees C.
A look back to the aircraft and passengers deplaning to head to the terminal.
The baggage claim area had a single conveyor belt
Passengers gathering around the belt to claim their checked-in luggage.
Another view of the conveyor
Luggage start to come out as most passengers are gathered around the conveyor.
A look back at the arrival exit of the Cauayan airport terminal
A quick look and photo of the airport entrance for departing passengers.
There are no taxis in Cauayan so its either you book a van or take the local ‘taxi’ in the form of tricycles. Most of these are motorcycles with sidecars but there are also many new tuktuk types, which are more spacious and comfortable to ride.
Tricycles, motorcycles and private vehicles parked at the airport. That’s the control tower in the background.
More photos of Cauayan Airport as well as aerial shots soon!
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Reservoir roads – Part 1
I remember posting about “submersible bridges”, dike roads and the like. There were two roads atop 2 dams that were part of 2 reservoirs in : the Canili River Reservoir and the Diayo River Reservoir, which are dwarfed by the much larger Pantabangan reservoir and dam nearby. These two reservoirs are at the border of Nueva Vizcaya (Alfonso Castaneda) and Isabela (Maria Aurora), which also happens to be the border of Regions 2 and 3 (Cagayan Valley and Central Luzon, respectively). Here are photos of the roads atop the dams that are part of the Pantabangan-Baler Road.
Vehicles may only pass a single lane with shoulders on either side of the lane. And so there are people posted at either ends of the sections to manage the one-way traffic.
The reservoir is visible on the left side of the photo
Forested area and ravine on the right side
Some fish pens on the Canili reservoir side
A view of the east end of the Canili reservoir road where westbound vehicles await their turn to traverse the section.
The eastern end of the Canili reservoir road
There’s a short two-lane segment between the Canili and Diayo reservoir roads
Traveling along the Diayo reservoir road
Fish pens at the Diayo Reservoir
The other side of the dam
The eastern end on the Diayo reservoir road where the single lane road transitions into a 2-lane road.
More photos in Part 2…soon.
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Safety guides for pedestrians and cyclists
Here are a couple of references/resources for pedestrian and cycling safety. These are guidelines and countermeasure selection systems that were developed under the Federal Highway Administration of the US Department of Transportation:
- Pedestrian Safety Guide and Countermeasure Selection System
- Bicycle Safety Guide and Countermeasure Selection System
These guides are designed to be practical and should be helpful to practitioners/professionals, policymakers as well as researchers. These would be people looking for references to use in designing or revising (correcting?) existing conditions or situations in order to enhance safety for pedestrians and cyclists who are among the most vulnerable of road users.
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Road safety week and some helpful articles
This week is the UN Global Road Safety Week. And so, I will be sharing some articles and references related to road safety including the following pertaining to crashes involving bicycles and motor vehicles:
Bicycle Accident Prevention: Avoiding the 12 most common types of bicycle/vehicle accidents
Link is here: https://www.bicycleaccidentprevention.com/?fbclid=IwAR2JnbQQR9rwg_Vz6rOLZtQ0sxnlyn3zPojBgg_-XoUKED69p0EFFtPdlRY
The only comment I have about the above reference is that it still uses the term “accident” instead of “crash”. The latter is the more appropriate term now being used by professional, advocates and policymakers who are focused on safety; keeping in mind the motto that “road safety is no accident”.
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On improving public transport services to increase or retain ridership
Here is another quick post; sharing a nice article on how to improve public transport services:
Miller, A. (2019) “From the Bus Stop to the Fast Lane: How Cities Can Speed up Buses, Improve Ridership”, Medium.com, https://medium.com/frontier-group/from-the-bus-stop-to-the-fast-lane-how-cities-can-speed-up-buses-improve-ridership-f96d473c1cc7 [Last accessed: May 4, 2019].
While the article drives the point towards increasing ridership, I think the challenge for Philippine cities is more of retaining ridership. This is because there is pressure of public transport ridership decreasing as a result of increasing car ownership (owning their own vehicles is still an aspiration among many Filipinos), the popularity of car sharing/ride-hailing, and the still rapid increase in motorcycle ownership.
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On unlocking the potential of shared transportation
Here’s a quick share of a very nice article that’s very informative and therefore useful to people seeking to tap into the potential of shared transportation to help alleviate transport woes in their cities and towns:
Miller (2019) “9 Ways Cities Can Unlock the Potential of Shared Transportation”, Medium.com, https://medium.com/frontier-group/9-ways-cities-can-unlock-the-potential-of-shared-transportation-66a53b2c841 [Last accessed: May 3, 2019]
So far, we only have few examples of shared transportation in the Philippines. These include a few bike shares in Metro Manila and does not count ride-hailing/ridesharing, which we now know is not really a sustainable form of transport.
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Public transport coverage in Metro Manila
I saw several posts circulating on social media about public transport routes in major cities that included stylised maps presented like the transit maps you usually see for cities like Tokyo, Hong Kong and Singapore. These show what the makers identify as the equivalent of stops or stations along the public transport “lines”. These, of course, are a simplification because what appears as a single line may actually be comprised of several. Also, the overlaps seem to be also quite simplified compared to what may be found in reality. This post will not attempt to show how complicated road public transport is for Metro Manila. Instead, I am sharing the maps prepared from a previous study we conducted for the then DOTC (ca. 2012) that show the coverage of three road public transport modes: buses, jeepneys and UV Express.
PUB coverage for Mega Manila with distinction of EDSA and non-EDSA routes (2012)
Jeepney route coverage for Mega Manila (2012)
UV Express route coverage for Mega Manila (2012)
I hope these maps have already been updated or are going to be updated in order for us to have good visual references for public transport planning including the identification of locations for integrated terminals as well as connections with rail transit.
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Bike patrol
Wouldn’t it be healthier and more effective for law enforcers to have bike patrols? Many of them seem to be detached from the communities they’re supposed to serve when they aren’t on foot or pedals but instead go around on motor vehicles. It also seems a waste that the motor vehicles assigned to these people are being used to train them for driving. Thus, you often see patrol cars (even motorcycles) that are supposed to be recent model vehicles but seem so battered already. Do they really use these for chases? Or are they damaged due to their being used as “training” vehicles?
PNP officers on bike patrol along the beaches in Baler, Aurora
To be more effective, police officers should probably be roaming on foot or bicycles. They can be more in touch with the communities as there will be opportunities to mingle compared to if they were on cars or motorcycles. In one thread on social media, for example, there was a call for our local police to adopt the “Koban” style of the Japanese police where officers roam the communities mainly on foot and where many are recruited from the community for the latter and former to have some familiarity with the people and areas they are assigned to. Going around on foot or bicycle would also be a healthier option as surely they will be able to go more than the 10,000 steps (or equivalent) necessary to be classified as active.
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Arko along the highways
I tried to take photos of the arches that used to typically mark the boundaries between cities, municipalities and provinces en route to Baler, Aurora. I didn’t find many despite the numerous towns we passed along the way. Here are the one’s I saw, with some apparently rebuilt after the road widening projects of the DPWH.
Welcome arch to the Province of Nueva Ecija as we exited Tarlac Province – the first town after La Paz, Tarlac is Zaragosa, Nueva Ecija
Welcome arch of the Municipality of Aliaga, Nueva Ecija
Cabanatuan City’s arch as we exited towards Llanera
Welcome arch of Llanera, Nueva Ecija
Relatively new and modern arch design of Rizal, Nueva Ecija
More on these arches soon!
Do you have photos of arches in your place that you can share? Post them on the comments section! 🙂
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On the Holy Week rush and long distance trips
It’s that time of year again when people travel a lot of mostly to go back to their hometowns to spend the Holy Week break there. Many will also be going on leisure trips; heading to tourist destinations such as beaches, which are likely the most attractive places during this sweltering summer season. Most people will likely travel on land and would be taking public transportation in the form of provincial buses (while there will be more cars on the roads, more people will be on high occupancy vehicles).
Provincial bus terminal near the end of Gil Puyat Ave. (formerly Buendia Ave.)
One wonders if the mode shares for these provincial trips could have been different at least for Luzon Island if the old PNR northern and southern lines were retained, maintained and modernised. What used to be the Main Line North stretched all the way to San Fernando, La Union with stations at most major cities and towns in Bulacan, Pampanga, Tarlac and Pangasinan including Malolos, San Fernando (Pampanga), Angeles City, and Dagupan City. Meanwhile, the Main Line South stretched all the way to Legazpi City in Albay with stations in the provinces of Laguna, Quezon, Camarines Norte, Camarines Sur and Albay. These included stations in Calamba, Los Banos, Sta. Cruz, Lucena and Naga. Surely, more people would have taken the trains for these long distance trips if the rolling stock were a lot like those operation by Japan Railways?
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Caught (up) in traffic 