ONE CRAZY IDEA. This was how the new directive issued by the Department of Transportation and Land Transportation Office was tagged in their effort to apprehend all public utility vehicles — particularly UV express and other PUVs — that exceed seating capacity with passengers “packed (like) sardines”.
The directive would penalize not just the drivers but also the commuters and fine them at least P5,000 if boarded more than its registered capacity.
A column by Andrew Pearlman, a development consultant who has worked with INGOs, the UK government, the British Council, and the UN and is a permanent resident of the Philippines based in Metro Manila since 2016 in Rappler, said the directive “completely ignores the issue of supply.
‘A developed country is not a place where the poor have cars. It’s where the rich use public transportation. And why do they use it? Because it is cheap, clean, frequent, and reliable.’
JUST A GIMMICK?
Why do commuters cram into the one, solitary, jeepney they can find? It is not because they have some sort of armpit fetish, or a desire to contract COVID; it is because they need to get to the office, or to get home, and who knows when the next jeepney might come? Telling PUV drivers that they may be apprehended or be fined P5,000 if they board more than 32 persons (which they have done) is just not helpful.”
Pearlman, an active member of the Move As One Coalition, asked the LTO-DoTr to “stop the gimmicks, the ‘sardinas’ rules, blaming the jeepney drivers and commuters but to analyze why this practice persists.”
The LTO must realize that the issue is not greedy jeepney drivers or “undisciplined” Filipinos but is a classic supply-and-demand issue, citing the current stormy weather when public transport systems are hindered by traffic jams and floods forcing the commuter to hail any ride just to get home or to the office quickly, regardless if he risks his/her life.
“If the LTO is to be believed, his example Kiko’s story, is the fault of the jeepney driver who lets their vehicles fill up irresponsibly, or Filipinos who crowd on without a care in the world for their fellow commuters,” he narrated.
A SYSTEMIC ISSUE
Pearlman chided the LTO that the problem is more about lack of (transport) supply and not overcrowding or the driver’s greed for bigger income. There are simply not enough buses or jeepneys to meet the demand. It is a systemic issue.
Pearlson’s prescription: “If you want to end the ‘sardinas’ issue, you need to improve supply. That requires investment in bus and jeepney services. Cities must be free to provide regular, frequent, reliable bus services that link business and transport hubs. This is not one bus every 30 minutes that departs once full; this is one bus every five minutes (or less) that runs to timetable, taking you from near your work to a hub. In Kiko’s case, from his work to the MRT.”
Originally from London, he shared that “the secret to the public transport network is not the overground and underground rail — although this moves millions every day — it is the buses that are timetabled, frequent and go everywhere.”
Cities here must be free to institute the same, yet there are Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board restrictions on municipal governments doing just that.
FINAL-MILE TRANSPO
Some, like Quezon City, are trying, but it is a constant battle to work around rules put in place to disempower local government units, he said.
Some of the public transport works in the pipeline will help: the Metro Manila Subway, MRT7, the North-South Commuter Railway, restarting the cancelled Makati Subway. But there will still be a need for more buses and final-mile transportation services to get commuters home, on time and dry, he stressed.
“It is hard work, but it is possible to do it in Manila. Other cities in our region, such as Bangkok, have done it. So, this is a plea: Stop the gimmicks, the ‘sardinas’ rules, blaming the jeepney drivers and commuters. Start investing in municipal bus services, increasing jeepney franchises, and living the supposed commitment to public transport first,” Pearlson explained.
Gustavo Petro, the president of Colombia and former mayor of Bogota, is credited with saying: “A developed country is not a place where the poor have cars. It’s where the rich use public transportation.” And why do they use it? Because it is cheap, clean, frequent, and reliable.
No more gimmicks. If it can be done elsewhere, it can be done here. Well, here’s hoping anyway, his column concluded.