One
early morning while preparing for an appointment in Makati, I was arguing with
myself whether to take the bus or the Manila Rail Transit (MRT). I was trying
to decide which is the type of transport that will provide better convenience
and comfort, if at all these two words can be used when referring to
transportation in Metro Manila. I was coming from Quezon City and the traffic
along EDSA in the morning is just unimaginable. There are air-conditioned buses
which is a relief considering the Manila heat. But these buses, aside from
being stuck in heavy traffic, stop at every corner loading and unloading
passengers, and it takes between 1 hour to 2 hours to get to Makati from Quezon
City – a distance that on a traffic-free hour can be traversed in 20 minutes.
These buses would often overload, taking in passengers even if the bus is full,
and making extra passengers balance themselves and hang on to rails or hooks
while standing along the aisle. Taking the MRT is much worse. While it takes
the MRT probably 30-40 minutes from its first station at SM North to Ayala
station in Makati, the difficulty that one has to go through to get into the
MRT and the situation the one has to bear while inside the MRT, is implausible.
Taking the MRT is like joining thousands of ant colonies elbowing each other
for space, squeezing themselves to fit into small spaces, and smelling each
other’s arm pits while the train goes chug chug chug to the next station. But
with the recent issue on MRT fare hike, I decided to take the MRT to see if
there is basis for the increase.
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| MRT Commuters at North Station |
I
took the MRT from its first station at North EDSA. The queues spilled over to
EDSA and it was moving at a snail’s pace up to the third floor. The escalators were not working. The elevator has a very long queue. The station was
teeming with thousands of morning travellers. The MRT, which comes at intervals
of 20-30 minutes, gets filled up so fast and it leaves the first station
jam-packed with passengers. Despite this, it stops at every station to take in
more passengers until it is almost bursting with people inside. At every station,
thousands of passengers await their opportunity to squeeze into full trains.
Most of the time, they have to wait for the next one in the hope that it is
less full. But the next train is the same as the previous one and so is the
train after that. Passengers have no choice but to force themselves into trains
so they can get to their destination. Never mind that they have to cling on to
nothing to keep their balance, or smell other people’s armpits and feel other
people’s butts behind or in front them, as long as they don't run in late to
their works or classes, or appointments.
The
MRT fare hike should address this basic problem and provide more convenience
and comfort to the riding public. Even if the fare is increased, if the riding
public had to go through the same hell like experiences everyday, then the MRT
management is not delivering well on its mandate. How can MRT possibly address
this everyday dilemma? Certainly, the MRT can devise means like:
1.
But more trains to cater to the growing number
of the riding public. This will justify the fare hike.
2.
Use 2-story trains to accommodate more
people. One might argue that the present
infrastructure of the MRT line cannot accommodate a 2-story train. However, if
we can lose 10 Billion pesos in pork barrel scam, certainly the government has
enough money to fix the structure so that 2-story trains can be accommodated.
3.
Each train should have limited stops so that not
every train will stop at every station. This will lessen passengers on each
train.
The MRT is raking in millions of pesos everyday. It has no
excuse to implement practical solutions to address issues especially the
decongestion of the trains and provision of better convenience to the riding
public.
