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Tag Archives: public transportation
Some thoughts on bus transportation for Metro Manila and beyond
There are two recent news items about buses in Metro Manila and adjacent areas:
- A proposed study on bus lanes for Quezon Avenue, Ortigas Avenue and C5
- Bus transport supplement for LRT Line 2
Did you know that there was a Pre-Feasibility for Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) along several thoroughfares in Metro Manila back in 2007? I am sharing this paper presented at the Transportation Science Society of the Philippines (TSSP) 2014 conference that synthesizes the references including the 2007 Pre-Feasibility Study on Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) for Metro Manila (supported by the USAID) and the 2011 Mega Manila Public Transportation Planning Support System (MMPTPSS) Study funded by the then DOTC. I hope these studies, which are still very relevant though no longer recent, can be utilized. There is no need to reinvent the proverbial wheel.
Sigua, R.G. (2014) “Identification of BRT Corridors in Metro Manila,” Proceedings of the 22nd Annual Conference of the Transportation Science Society of the Philippines, Iloilo City.
LRT Line 2 is an example of government not having the foresight of acquiring new rolling stock (i.e., trains) despite passenger demand steadily increasing over the years. Yet here we are and the old train sets are now deteriorating with some already retired. And then there is the proposal and study by the LTFRB and LRTA about buses supplementing the Line 2 operations. A quick check and there is already a bus service supplementing Line 1 – the Antipolo-Cubao route that is also serviced by jeepneys. This existing route can be tweaked or expanded so there are several lines serving not just Antipolo but also other Rizal towns and the City of Marikina. From Cubao there are already jeepney routes parallel to Line 2. Perhaps instead of just jeepneys, these can be rationalized to buses, which have higher capacities than PUJs? I don’t think you need to have a deep dive on this if you are familiar with public transportation along the Line 2 corridor.
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Musings on a Sunday morning – on mode shift after railway projects are completed
A news article came out yesterday about the acting Secretary of Transportation stating that the number of vehicles on the roads will fall by 1 million once all railway projects are completed. I countered on my social media that he might just eat his words. Friends were more humorous in their comments including one saying that might just happen in the year 2100 (when we’ve all passed). Then, there are comments about this happening without railways, thanks to the escalation in fuel prices.
I wrote about my take on future rail use in the following article here back in 2019. There are others I’ve written earlier that were based on observations and research we have conducted the last 3 decades on transportation mode shares and the impacts of new railway lines.
While I would love to see people shifting from private vehicle use to public transportation (especially to rail), I am more grounded with my expectations. The Metro Manila Subway line will certainly be a game changer, and probably partly because it is not along any of the current corridors. It is unlike Lines 1, 2, 3 and the future 7 that are along corridors where they are or will be directly competing with existing road public transport modes. In the latter cases, people already taking public transport (road-based) would likely be the same people shifting to rail. As for the private transport users, they might just stick to their cars – unless, of course, they couldn’t afford the fuels or to acquire an electric or hybrid vehicle.
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Bakit ma-traffic sa Ortigas Avenue? [Why is Ortigas Avenue congested?]
Bakit ma-traffic sa _______? I usually pose this question to my audience (e.g., students, trainees, etc.). In this post, I attempt to answer the question in the title using data we collected for Antipolo City’s Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan (SUMP). In one of the workshops, I asked the participants from the local government unit (i.e., from the various transport-related offices of Antipolo City) to try to determine the traffic mix for Ortigas Avenue Extension (also named Corazon Aquino Avenue from the Antipolo side) based on the traffic counts conducted at a station along the section that connected Antipolo with Taytay (at Tikling Junction). They also had performed vehicle occupancy counts along the same location so
These are just the numbers from the Antipolo surveys. Note that Ortigas Avenue Extension serves as a collector for the Rizal towns including Taytay and Cainta as well as for Pasig City. If we have similar numbers for the traffic mix and occupancies, then we can conclude that most people are actually using private vehicles with a surprising share being carried by motorcycles! That seems to go against the narrative that private vehicle ownership is low and that most people take public transportation. At least for the case presented here, that is not true, and we seem to be underestimating private vehicle use or preference.
Next: Bakit ma-traffic sa Marcos Highway?
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On transport strikes – are they still relevant or effective?
One of my students casually asked me about the effectiveness of transport strikes. I replied that while the strikes may and can raise awareness of the issues being protested, their effectiveness may have been diminished as people have become insensitive not just to them but to many of the issues we face these days. The latter includes the political mess we have that affects everyone regardless of who you side with.
Here is the series I wrote back in March 2023 – “A Brief History of Transport Strikes”:
Part 1: https://d0ctrine.com/2023/03/04/a-brief-history-of-transport-strikes-part-1/
Part 2: https://d0ctrine.com/2023/03/06/a-brief-history-of-transport-strikes-part-2-reasons-for-a-strike/
Part 3: https://d0ctrine.com/2023/03/08/a-brief-history-of-transport-strikes-part-3-advocacy-and-bandwagon/
And then this short piece in October of the same year:
What do you think?
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On preaching on public transport
I’m sharing this interesting article about a preacher who was asked to stop by commuters in a train in Sydney, Australia:
Why an Entire Sydney Train Turned Against an American Preacher
I suddenly remember similar instances when I was in high school and then as a university student. Some of the buses I rode on my commutes were boarded by preachers. I recall that people just didn’t mind them especially when they finished preaching and started asking for donations. I don’t remember anyone shouting or calling out the preacher to stop. Everyone was just silent and not minding the talk though I’m sure there were those who felt uncomfortable with the situation. Perhaps it’s just Filipinos being kind despite what may be regarded as an intrusion or disturbance. Fast forward to the present and there was a recent incident on a train where passengers made it clear they didn’t want to be evangelized in that way. That’s a complete reversal from my college days in the early 1990s. What do you think? Is a public transport vehicle such as a bus or train an appropriate venue for preaching? Or was/is there a violation of personal space here?
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Article share – Planning for Love, Part 2: What happens to dating in a car-centric world?
I shared the first part of a series relating the built environment with love (or dating). The second part is also very interesting as it focuses on the impacts of car-centricity. To quote from the article:
“Everyone across both groups said they’d ideally like to meet their partner in person, organically, putting spontaneous public interactions and friends at the top of the list while dating apps and social media fell to the bottom.
In practice, however, drivers were getting far fewer spontaneous public encounters than they wanted, turning to social media for dating far more than they’d like.
For non-drivers, their actual dating life and dating ideals were much more in sync: public encounters and social media use both happened at nearly the rate they preferred. One exception was meeting through friends and family, which happened less often than they would’ve liked.”
Planning for Love, Part 2: What happens to dating in a car-centric world?
Source: Planning for Love, Part 2: What happens to dating in a car-centric world?
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May-time pilgrimage
Last April 30-May 1, there was another ‘Alay Lakad’ to the shrine in Antipolo. The pilgrimage walk started in Quiapo Church (Black Nazarene) and ended at the Antipolo church (Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage). Dubbed the “Walk for Peace,” there usually was a lot of people considering the number of devotees as well as May 1 being perhaps a holiday. Antipolo and Taytay LGUs at least put up stations for assistance to pilgrims.
We started hearing Mass again at the shrine last Sunday as our daughter prefers going there instead of at the chapel at our village. She’s gone to two Lenten Alay Lakads the past two years so maybe she felt this was a kind of pilgrimage for her, too.
For those walking from Metro Manila, there are two general routes to Antipolo. One is via Ortigas Avenue Extension and Tikling junction and the other is via Sumulong Highway and Masinag junction. You can take public transportation from Cubao or Crossing where there are jeepneys and buses. Many terminate at the Robinsons Antipolo mall terminal. But there are many other smaller terminals around the city including some near the Simbahan itself. There are also many tricycles that can take you to the shrine from various points in Antipolo including the Line 2 station at Masinag. Line 2, of course, is a convenient and fast way to get to Antipolo from Manila and Quezon City.
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On affordable and inclusive mobility in the Philippines
Here’s a quick share of an article from the Institute for Climate and Sustainable Cities (ICSC) about affordable and inclusive mobility. The observations and conclusions are actually familiar because these have been articulated before when the topics were brought up in the context of environmentally sustainable transport (EST).
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Article share: Why Complete Streets Design Benefits Everyone
Here is another quick share of an article; this time on Complete Streets. I guess many are aware of the AI-generated street transformations that are now being shared across many social media platforms. These show street transformations of many sections and intersections.
Source: Why Complete Streets Design Benefits Everyone
Again, it is important to have context sensitive solutions. This extends to street transformations. Some may look cool (AI tools have enabled non-architects, non-engineers, etc. to produce nice renderings) but should be tempered for the street or highway functions as well as the actual volume of people and vehicles running along these.
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Some thoughts on PUV modernization in the context of the energy crisis
One can help but recall a lot of things past during slow days like those on Holy Week. I was able to write about memories of spending the Holy Week in Iloilo during my younger days. I myself spent most of my Holy Weeks there until after College. My annual “recharging” was only interrupted when I was abroad for three years in the late 1990s. I don’t recall now the last time I was there for Holy Week but perhaps it was after I got married more than 20 years ago. The recollection this week was not only about the sentimental stuff of my childhood and teen days. I couldn’t help but recall some of the work we did many years ago on trying to modernize public utility vehicles, particularly jeepneys.
I was involved in some DOTC (what the DOTr was then) programs and projects about 15 years ago where we sought to replace the old conventional jeepney engines with newer models. This was to reduce emissions and improve fuel efficiency. Electric jeepneys then were still crude in terms of motors and batteries though the body designs were patterned after the conventional jeepneys. They were not as viable as the current models available now. There were also few designs of modern jitneys or minibuses at the time. And jeepney operators and drivers groups indicated their receptiveness to engine replacement. So it was logical to consider engine replacement at the time. Unfortunately, some groups strongly opposed this leaving nothing accomplished from the time.
Fast forward to the present and now, it seems it was correct to at least propose engine replacement at the time. Jeepney engines could have been more fuel efficient aside from having less emissions. Of course, it is now moot and academic and the current crisis might just result in jeepney operators and drivers giving up on their pasada. There is the opinion that jeepneys have been coddled and romanticized for quite some time now (since the 1970s?). It is perhaps time to phase out old vehicles in favor of modern ones. A message to progressive groups though: let’s learn from the lessons of this energy crisis and help with pushing for modernization of road-based public transport. If its the prices of the new models that pose as barriers then lets find ways for more acceptable and affordable financing schemes. Should there be a variant of service contracting by national and/or local government? Find solutions rather than find ways to inhibit or prevent modernization. Throwing obstacles has cost commuters a lot in terms of time and money. Commuters deserve a more modern and efficient transportation system.
Modern jitney in Cebu
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