About a year ago, transport authorities led by both the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board and the Department of Transportation announced their intention to phase out jeepneys from the streets of the National Capital Region.
The idea was to get rid of jeepneys that are 15 years old or older. The meaning of the 15-year- old policy was unclear, though. Was it for engines, the body or both? Be that as it may, the jeepney associations led by the left- leaning Piston led several transport strikes that eventually stopped the proposed phaseout program dead on its tracks.
For the next several months, everything was quiet until a few days ago when two broadsheets reported that Mitsubishi, the vehicle manufacturer is studying the possibility of coming up with a new chassis design for a jeepney that could accommodate between 19 and 35 passengers. If this idea is being encouraged by the government, it would mean that the jeepney will be around the streets of Metro Manila for a long time. This will be catastrophic to metro traffic.
What a shame. From the way our transport authorities reacted to the series of strikes mounted by the jeepney association, it is apparent that not enough research was done. No preparation was prepared to counter the strikes which should have been expected. The best that was done was to suspend classes. It should have been an opportunity for the government to reallocate bus routes to other areas instead of just leaving thousands of buses running along Epifanio de los Santos Avenue.
It is unthinkable that a few jeepney operators can hold the government hostage when their authority to operate can easily be cancelled for violating the conditions of their authority to operate public conveyance. But the government appear to have been paralyzed into inaction because agencies did not know what action to take. Right at this time, Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board or the Department of Transportation should study reallocating bus routes to other areas so that if there will be future jeepney strikes as the operators are threatening, the buses can easily take over vacated jeepney routes.
This way, we hit two birds with one stone. Decongest Edsa and be able to provide transport to other areas using buses. But it seems the LTFRB and DOTr do not have the imagination to think beyond the length of their proboscis. We all know how the jeepney came about after the Second World War. I saw a video of Manila in the first half of 1946 and saw the very crude converted military jeeps and weapon carriers that provided the basic transport system in Manila after the destruction of the old tram lines that were never rebuilt. The jeepney of course, went on to dictate the way the land use of Metro Manila developed. The jeepneys are still all over the place somewhat different perhaps but basically the same—made from surplus equipment. The popularity of the jeepney is based solely on the fact that it is the closest thing to a door to door transport. But the very strength of the jeepney as a public transport mode is also the very thing that justifies its gradual phase out from highly urbanized cities like Metro Manila.
The jeepneys are dirty, unsafe and operated in a way that is disadvantageous to paying passengers. It is not also efficient as a mass transport system. It cannot carry many passengers like the bus and rail but occupies a lot of road space. In addition, the jeepney contributes in a big way to air pollution. Since the jeepneys do not have off street parking, many roads are used as jeepney stations. Our transport authorities should be able to come up with a scientific justification whether in the light of the limited road system in Metro Manila, the jeepney as currently designed and operated is still viable for a burgeoning and modernizing city like the National Capital Region. The phasewout program of government should have been gradual starting from main thoroughfares like Edsa, C5 and Roxas Boulevard. From there, additional roads can be added until such time that other modes can take over like rail. A better distribution of bus routes can also be undertaken to eventually replace the jeepneys.
And the jeepney? Move it to less-urbanized cities where it can still be useful. All these however, can only be done with competent people in transport agencies. Unfortunately, we sorely lack people in transport agencies who truly understand land use and transport interaction because that in essence is what traffic management is all about. We have a long way to go in order to arrive at a tolerable traffic situation. Right now, we all have to experience the daily punishing gridlock whether a passenger or car owner.
Traffic management even in less populated and chaotic cities is already difficult. This is because traffic is one of the most dynamic of all activities. A simple vehicular accident in an underpass along Edsa could easily stop traffic for hours. Unfortunately, even this very basic traffic truism is not understood by some people in transport agencies.
Lastly, the challenge to drastically improve traffic in Metro Manila may just remain like what the song says—an elusive dream. Why? Everyone seems to think that the way to improve traffic is to put an enforcer on every intersection and street corner.
