Finding solutions to commuter woes
The directive of Acting Department of Transportation (DOTr) Secretary Giovanni Lopez for officials under his agency to use public transportation at least once a week is not exactly ingenious. But it stands out in an era where the vulgar display of wealth by children of corrupt public officials and contractors has exemplified not only systemic corruption in government but also the detachment of the haves from the woes of the have-nots.
Whether it’s a public relations stunt to save the image of the DOTr, one of the most vilified government agencies—the public works department aside—or a genuine move from a public official who has finally gotten the message to step into the shoes of the ordinary Filipino, the only acceptable result here is to find solutions to address the broken public transportation system.
Aside from the perennial traffic congestion, problems like inadequate and inefficient public transport, poor infrastructure, and the lack of an integrated plan have made public commuting in the country a stressful, if not a harrowing and degrading experience. Unfortunately, the majority of Filipinos who do not own cars must continue to endure this indignity until the government institutes reforms that will ease their daily commute.
In an interview with ANC, Lopez likened his commuting experience to a war zone (“para ka talagang nakikipag-digmaan”). He left his house on Commonwealth Avenue, Quezon City, at 5:30 a.m. and reached the DoTr office in Pasay City at around 9 a.m., or more than three hours later. Many more Filipinos have it worse, spending up to five hours or more on the road to get to work or school, on a daily basis.
Core of the problem
Some of Lopez’s observations included the lack of a system and enforcers to guide commuters, bike lanes that were not serving their purpose, and commuters spilling into the vehicle lanes, desperate to catch a ride and putting their lives at risk.
“[The commuters] could not ride the buses because they were so full,” he said. At the core of the problem, he pointed out, was the lack of public utility vehicles (PUVs), from jeepneys to buses, to cater to the volume of commuters, especially during rush hour.
In a 2023 publication, think tank IBON Foundation noted that the “daily sights of long queues in transport terminals, overcrowding, and stranded masses of passengers are telling of the chronic shortage in Philippine public transportation.” It lamented that there was no current data on mobility supply, a gap that Lopez and the DOTr should look into if they want to have a firm grasp of the transportation crisis.
The Move As One Coalition made a similar observation, noting that overloading is not a problem but a symptom of a persistent and serious crisis. It criticized a plan of the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) and the Land Transportation Office (LTO) to impose stiffer penalties on PUVs caught overloading.
Undersupply of PUVs
Lopez said one way to address the shortage of public utility jeepneys (PUJs) and public utility buses (PUBs) was to allow individual operators if the transport cooperatives are unable to provide the service.
The coalition, however, blamed the undersupply of PUVs on four LTFRB policies, including several moratoriums on franchises in 1994, 2001, 2003, and 2017. It said these policies led to an overwhelming decline in the service provided by PUVs, especially jeepneys and buses, and “the government’s denial will only deepen this worsening crisis.”
Based on data from the Metro Manila Development Authority and the DOTr, the volume of PUBs in Metro Manila declined by 42.3 percent from 36,551 in 2013 to 21,107 in 2023, while PUJs registered the highest drop of 50.5 percent, falling from 193,221 to 95,659. On the other hand, the volume of motorcycles rose by 286.5 percent from 433,340 to 1.67 million for the same period, likewise with the volume of vehicles that rose by 43 percent from 2.54 million in 2013 to 3.63 million in 2023.
Bare minimum
“If the LTFRB’s own policies effectively halted the growth of transport supply—while the population and commuter demand continued to rise—the question must be asked: ‘How were people expected to get to where they need to go?” the coalition said. In the absence of sufficient and formal public transport options, it added, commuters are left with little choice but to cram into overcrowded vehicles or resort to informal, unregulated modes of transportation—the same scenario that Lopez witnessed.
The DOTr directive, which also covers officials from the LTO, LTFRB, and the railway agencies, is only the initial step toward finding solutions. It’s the bare minimum for public officials to understand the plight of ordinary Filipinos whom they serve. The challenge now is to come up with a comprehensive policy for a sustainable transport system that is designed, not from the view of privileged officials in their air-conditioned cars, but from the ordinary Filipino commuter’s plight.
