"Edsa is not as bad as ever. It is worse."
"Edsa is not as bad as ever. It is worse."
In mid-2016, shortly after the election of President Rodrigo Duterte, I wrote a column titled—to the best of my recollection—“The EDSA Problem Needs a Drastic Solution.” As its title suggested, I stated in that column that the usual patchwork-type measures would not bring about the solution of Metro Manila’s No. 1 problem and that only a drastic, out-of-the-ordinary solution would cause the 26-kilometer roadway to stop being the biggest parking lot in this country’s premier metropolis.
Shortly after moving into Malacanang Mr. Duterte declared that he would put an end to the dawn-to-dusk EDSA gridlock, with as much confidence as he said he would put an end to corruption, crime and the illegal drugs trade. There was talk of the new Chief Executive’s seeking emergency powers from Congress, and Mr. Duterte brought in brought in as Secretary of Transportation an individual who up until then had a reputation for getting things done, namely, Arthur Tugade. With total focus on, and sufficient resources for, the problem, Mr. Duterte and his crew would make EDSA move cars and goods the way it did when it was called Hig1hway 54.
In writing that 2016 column, I did not mean to be a party pooper, as the Americans say. It was not my desire to stop people from talking about, and proposing solutions to, the EDSA issue. All that I wanted to do was to bring back down to Earth everyone who thought that the usual, tired old prescriptions would do the trick for Metro Manila’s No. 1 transportation problems.
Almost everything but the kitchen sink has been thrown at the EDSA quagmire—including enlistment of the Philippine National Police’s HPG (Highway Patrol Group), truck bans coding—but, as 2018 draws to an end and the Duterte administration nears the halfway mark, EDSA is not as bad as ever; it is worse.
I have spoken of a drastic solution. Every leading dictionary has the same meaning or the word “drastic.” Drastic is placed in the etymological class as severe, extraordinary, extreme. Drastic is the kind of solution that the EDSA problem needs if it is to be ameliorated or ended altogether.
Any drastic solution to EDSA will of necessity have to take into account the following facts: (1) EDSA connects six of the National Capital Region’s most important cities; (2) because of its central location; major feeder routes to the other Metro Manila cities go into and out of it, (3) EDSA’s acceptable carrying capacity has long been exceeded many times over and (4) EDSA is used by both private vehicles, public transport facilities and commercial vehicles.
The solutions that have been applied thus far—including those, like the color coding scheme and the truck ban—clearly have not done the job. Already there have been grumblings about the constitutionality of the measures; any measures more stringent than these will almost certainly invite legal challenge.
The drastic solutions that are possible will have to address two concepts that guide government policy toward EDSA. One concept is that the use of EDSA is open to all vehicular traffic—private cars, commercial vehicles and public transport facilities. The other guiding concept is public transport should enjoy as much priority in the use of Metro Manila’s principal thoroughfare.
I can think of at least one drastic solution to the EDSA problem. The complaint is always being heard that the thousands of buses—more specifically, the constant weaving in and out of those vehicles—are the principal cause of the EDSA quagmire. So, why not divide EDSA use into two, one side strictly for private vehicles and the other side for buses? Private vehicles would no longer have to contend with pesky buses, and buses would have one side of EDSA all to themselves.
This proposal, and any other equally drastic proposal, is bound to encounter stiff opposition. Any ideas that are out of the ordinary are bound to meet that fate.
No proposal to end the hell that EDSA’s users face every day, to be even more remotely successful, will have to be drastic in character. Otherwise, we should all just give up trying—as the Duterte administration appears to have done.