Temporary reprieve from traffic hell

**media[16401]**UNDER THE MICROSCOPEBeing central to the transportation grid despite the presence of several arterial roads like C3 and C5, EDSA still bears the brunt of traffic due to its location and for being the access to many business centers: Makati CBD, Pasig, Greenhills, Cubao, the Quezon City business district including several malls as well as the access to South and North Expressways.The impending rehabilitation of Epifanio de Los Santos Avenue (EDSA) is triggering fears, speculations and gloom all over the metropolis. This vital artery will be partially closed to vehicles for two years, maybe more if there are delays. Thankfully, the President has just suspended its repair.The internet is rife with speculations and memes about this foreboding event, including one that is being shared among medical chat groups that goes:“To all patients, starting June 1, doctor’s rounds will no longer be everyday, it will be on an ODD-EVEN schedule. (Tiis-tiis lang po.)”We can all have a good laugh about this but it surely sounds like nervous laughter for many doctors, who are anxiously waiting for definitive pronouncements on what can or can’t be driven on EDSA in the next two years. Are doctors going to be exempt from the ban or not? The latest is that doctors who have emergency cases to attend to will be exempt, but how do we prove that is the case? So, the ongoing discussions in doctor’s circles is how to either get around the restrictions or how to get an exemption. Failing the latter, the alternatives are to buy electric cars, which are exempt from the coding restrictions, or buy another car and get a license plate that is odd/even depending on your current plate number. Either way, you have to buy another vehicle, new or used, in order to get around the metropolis to make rounds on your patients every day. No, alternate-day rounds is not an option, especially if you have critically ill patients in the intensive care unit.But is that what we all should be doing — adding more vehicles to the millions already on the road? Not everyone has multi-car garages to accommodate additional vehicles to skirt the regulations. Our streets are already brimming with vehicles parked all over due to the number coding system that’s supposed to decongest the roads. Instead, people just bought additional cars to get around the ruling. The same thing is seen even in the poshest villages and communities, and our subdivision is no exception. With streets just wide enough for two lanes, we have to resort to alternate side-of-the-road parking to ensure we can navigate our way in and out of our homes. All available spaces have been taken over and villagers scramble to get their vehicles parked on the other side come mid- and end-of the month. With the new EDSA coding scheme as currently proposed, we will surely see a spike in car sales of both electric and internal combustion types further worsening the congestion.In the final analysis, our current predicament arises from the government’s inability to offer efficient mass transportation modalities. The light rail system is miserably inadequate for the over 12 million or more metro population. Buses are very crowded and more of a nuisance than a good mode of transport. The MRT-7 construction is at a snail’s pace. The much -vaunted subway is still in its initial stages of drilling and encountering right -of-way problems. Private companies need to be called upon to build skyways, bridges, and other infrastructure to get them done properly. Otherwise, we will just be having collapsing bridges and non-existent roads. But what are our taxes for if not for building infrastructure?Commuters in other countries like Singapore, Japan, Taiwan are more blessed in that anyone, regardless of their station in life, can and do ride mass transit that is fast, efficient, safe and comfortable. Here, mass transportation is only availed of by those who can’t afford their own vehicles because of the severe congestion, limited reach and discomfort in buses and trains. The rest of us who drive/ride cars have to spend hours on the road, plodding along at a snail’s pace.The political elite tool around in ultra-luxury, bullet-proof SUVs accompanied by police escorts clearing the way with wang-wang blaring, which PNoy had banned during his term and is now back with a vengeance. Ah, how I wish for those days to be back. Now, we can only give way and curse whoever is in that vehicle to high heavens.It is sad that we have to suffer these “slings and arrows of life’s misfortunes” due to, what else, but government inefficiency and rampant corruption that is tearing at our nation’s heart.It’s time to set things right, and it starts from the top down. Please, pretty please?