Vehicular and pedestrian traffic in Metro Manila and other urban centers elsewhere in the country will aggravate before they are eased.
My premise is based on the fact that our population – and the world’s – is ever growing. Add also the reality of the unabated continuous cultural migration from the rural areas to the cities where they usually find work and income opportunities and then settle in and raise families of their own.
My take is that, as the title of this piece suggests, the government, in frenziedly attempting to find an appropriate solution to the traffic mess, must apply practical wisdom and institute something good and positive from the past.
In the fifties, people in Manila and its then surrounding towns and cities from Rizal province (San Juan, Pasay, Caloocan, Pasig, Marikina, Quezon City) were just walking their way to their destinations.
In those days, in Manila especially, streets were lined with trees that provide shade to the pedestrians. The weather was cool and breezy and there were yet no irritating emissions and pollutants emanating from factories, cars and other vehicles.
Taft avenue was dotted with leafy trees from Plaza Lawton (now Liwasang Bonifacio) that led visitors and tourists to the old Luneta and other attractive destinations like the famous Jai Alai and the Manila Zoo up to the Manila-Pasay boundary.
You must have missed Luneta then when it was blossoming with huge foliage and lush greenery such that it has become popular (or notorious, depending on your perspective) as a dating ground for lovers and couples.
The EDSA problem has become huge and herculean and government planners and even Congress seem confusingly divided on what quick solutions they can apply to alleviate the suffering of the travelling public.
As gas and fuel consumption increase and transport fares become expensive, my humble suggestion is for the government to transform EDSA into one beautiful, attractive and walkable area where thousands of commuters would enjoy the sight just like a promenade.
If it is not too late and government planners only approve, the entire length and breadth of EDSA should be planted with trees that provide shade and oxygen.
This will encourage commuters to use their feet and exercise by walking two or three blocks (even farther) if their offices and destinations are within walking distances.
And then, government should provide dedicated bicycle lanes along the long shady EDSA route that will, in effect, lessen the use of motorized vehicles. Wouldn’t it be fun, huh?
(Sometime ago in China, from the hotel where I was billeted, I saw – like ants – hordes of bicyclists, garbed in their office clothes, leisurely pedaling their way to work.)
Senior citizens then would not have to compete with other commuters for seats in the bus if their destinations are just close by (again, in walking distances) and they choose to take the challenge.
If, say 50% of the commuting public just walk their way to the office along EDSA, I am inclined to believe that public conveyances would also diminish and there wouldn’t be any crowded lanes.
I leave it to government planners and executives to think and ponder about offering incentives to commuters who should opt to walk and bicyclists, too.
Sometimes, if you just think about it, governance is so simple even the unlettered would easily comprehend. Why complicate it then?
There are many ways to skin a cat, right? (Email your feedback to fredlumba@yahoo.com.). God bless the Philippines!
