FIRING LINE: More public transpo needed

By Robert B. Roque, Jr.

Who do you think were more surprised to realize the scarcity of public transportation on the first day of General Community Quarantine (GCQ), the commuters heading to work, or the government’s policymakers?

The finger-pointing never stops.

When the government loosened up restrictions and reopened several businesses under GCQ, many workers went out in droves to return to work. They raced against one another toward whatever few vehicles that were allowed to ply routes and squeezed themselves inside overcrowded buses.

Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) General Manager Jojo Garcia blamed the commuters for failing to implement physical distancing. He lamented that they only cared about traveling to work and completely forgot about health and safety protocols.

Did the fault-finding Garcia ever consider that commuters might not have a choice but to scramble for a ride to be able to work and earn money to feed their families? Some of them opted to walk for hours just to make it on time for fear of losing their jobs.

As a government policy implementer, he forgot to look in the mirror while pointing his finger.

Did he ever consider that it was the government — transport-related agencies, including MMDA — that failed to come up with a comprehensive plan to ensure adequate public transportation under GCQ?

Did he consider that, because of this, it failed miserably to protect the riding public from possible COVID-19 infection?

Did it not cross the “beautiful minds” of government strategists that most employees commute going to their workplaces?

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Under GCQ, trains, taxis, transport network vehicle service (TNVS), and point-to-point (P2P) buses are allowed to resume operations, at limited capacity, as these services offer cashless fare payment.

Public utility vehicles (PUVs) such as jeepneys, UV Express vans, and city buses are not allowed because it will be challenging to implement the cashless fare system on these vehicles, thus causing a higher risk of virus transmission.

Most workers depend on these rides to get to work. And the government has failed to inform PUV operators on what the “new normal” for public transport will be like.

The private think-tank Action for Economic Reform (AER) has never said it better: “The lack of a safe public transport system, arising from the incompetence and insensitivity of the authorities, scuttles the very objectives of gradually opening the economy.”

There is still time to make up for what’s lacking. Use this time to resolve the problem rather than play the blame game.

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