Hoping for a walkable Metro Manila
I once saw a video of people crossing the street. An officer stopped them and pointed to a massive banner with large red text on white background, saying: “Bawal tumawid dito.” And yet, despite this sign, some may still ask, “Bawal tumawid?”
Many of us seem to have this very dangerous habit of crossing the street—not by waiting for cars to pass, but by meeting them on the road. We tend to cross streets without looking and hope for the best, so much so that signs had to be placed along major roads, saying, “Huwag tumawid, nakamamatay.” You may have already seen these on some roads.
And when even that did not work, the signs were replaced with, “Huwag tumawid, may namatay na rito.”
I honestly think that this has little to do with the supposed ignorance of most people or level of intelligence. Rather, it actually has more to do with the way our urban spaces have been designed, and how that clashes with how we intuitively move around. As it happens today, pedestrians are the ones who adjust to vehicles. But in an ideal world, these large and very dangerous machines should really be the ones to adjust to the everyday person, who’s just trying to get to where they are going.
City planning (or the lack of it)
Footbridges are placed in places that are too far to be convenient, and someone should probably do a study as to how many of these are actually friendly to seniors, children, pregnant people, and PWDs. In fact, one popular footbridge is so high that people were making jokes about how it was almost like a hike just to get up there.
We already know that the roads that connect our urban areas are built for the flow of cars rather than for the movement of crowds. And yet even motorists have little care about public safety, especially when speeding vehicles swerve on major roads or when motorcycles pass through breaks in traffic islands intended for pedestrians.
Meanwhile, bike lanes are often placed just for show—painted haphazardly on the ground, just so it can be said that there are bike lanes. And despite the prioritization for cars, with wide lanes and newer overpasses, traffic in Metro Manila is still horrendous. Why should it take three hours just to travel from one city to a neighboring one?
It feels like common sense to say that wider sidewalks and more pedestrian-friendly spaces would encourage walking, while helping minimize air pollution, improve public health, and encourage the support of local businesses. But is this enough to encourage people to walk more?
A daily battle for survival
A major consideration for accepting a well-paying job is whether or not the employee can tolerate the daily hassle of the urban commute. This is a serious and constant stressor that absolutely influences a person’s mindset when they enter their place of work. It may even lead to decreased performance and satisfaction over time.
But if I could just walk to work, or rely on a safe and clean public transportation system, I would never have to rush all the time. In that magical utopian Philippines, it would be a bizarre and unusual occurrence to be late, instead of it being the norm—“Filipino time,” so to speak. Commuters would no longer have to wake up before the sun and come home past dinnertime. A parent does not have to miss spending time with their spouse and children. A student can feel fresh and ready to learn when they get to school.
The reality, however, is very, very different. But why do we continue to tolerate the chemical fumes of car exhausts during our lengthy morning commutes? Why does standing in long, winding, sweaty lines just to board sardine-packed trains have to be part of our workday? Why do we have to squeeze through tight and flooded sidewalks just to get home? Why do we have to risk tetanus, leptospirosis, and other waste-based illnesses, while walking piss-stained streets?
Meanwhile, the mega-wealthy part lanes of traffic like Moses parted the Red Sea, just by turning their sirens on. Sana all.
We are all just going from one place to another. To work, to school, to our homes, or to our loved ones’ houses. And it makes me think of what it would look like for the streets of Metro Manila to be designed for people, rather than what it is today: a daily battlefield where pedestrians and commuters have to gamble their safety and entrust themselves to fate.
It says a lot, to the point that we call commuting during rush hour a kind of pakikipagsapalaran.
