Fundamentals of Commute Mechanics and Transport Phenomena

Public transportation plays a big role not only in the economy but in the daily life of the low to middle-income class, which is 99.6% of the Philippines population.

Plenty of Filipinos have limited mobility due to a lack of a vehicle (car, motorcycle, or even bicycle) and they suffer daily transportation issues, contributing to our country's dismal performance in the global industrial economy. Due to insufficient regulation, daily commuters have extended wait times for transportation, which has an impact on their jobs.

image via ABS-CBN News

RAIL TRANSPORT

In contrast to its Southeast Asian neighbors Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, and Vietnam, the Philippines is one of the few countries that has not established a strong, efficient, and sustainable railway infrastructure. In the Philippine Congress, the PNR franchise was in jeopardy of not being renewed because it has always had operational losses and has relied heavily on government subsidies to stay afloat.

Unfortunately, it is a common occurrence in the Philippines to experience a series of glitches in the country’s transport system. Due to a power outage back in 2019, the Metro Rail Transit Line 3 (MRT-3) was forced to discharge approximately 500 passengers and urge them to walk on the tracks between the Ayala and Magallanes stations. Since January, this is the 19th time MRT-3 has had a problem.

In June 2020, the four rail services in Metro Manila resumed during the general community quarantine or GCQ having a total of 2.7 million passengers. Even before the 2020 global pandemic, the LRT and MRT have already been facing a variety of problems—published schedules are rarely followed, delayed trips, frequent system malfunctions—which are absolutely stressful experiences for the passengers. The actual number of trains running is not enough to meet the high demand during peak hours—the dreaded rush hour wherein people are packed like sardines, yet they endure it because it’s what’s affordable.

Obstruction along the tracks of the Philippine National Railway (PNR) is nothing new. Several informal settlers in the poverty-stricken Metro Manila choose to build dwellings along the rails since it gives them quick access to one of the city's cheapest sources of transportation. People living near the rail tracks developed their own carts and trolleys—makeshift train cars made compatible with the rail tracks. These things, however, expose people to greater dangers as trains have to stop abruptly whenever the trolleys are using the tracks.

BUSES

Due to this, a lot of daily commuters rely on city buses as well as intercity buses. The bus industry is characterized by a high number of private bus companies. To limit the competition on price, rates per kilometer are determined by public authorities causing bus companies to maximize their seat capacity by allowing more passengers, forcing people to stand in the aisle which is a safety risk considering the higher speed travel on the highways.

There are yellow lanes—the median bus lanes created by the authorities that allow the separation of buses from private vehicles, which causes severe traffic congestion on a regular basis. It also brought confusion among motorists causing them to switch in and out of the lanes and blocking the orderly flow of traffic. Because of uncontrolled access, bus flow management was impossible with that recommendation. Recently, they allowed private vehicles to use the yellow lanes along EDSA as buses will now occupy the two leftmost lanes of the highway.

TAXIS

These problems are a reason why a lot of commuters often use Taxis and other transport booking apps for their mode of transportation. But taxis in the Philippines have a bad image to those who experienced rude taxi drivers who overprice. There are also a lot of reports of robbery and abuse being done by taxi drivers, but this issue hasn't stopped a lot of commuters using taxis because it's the only option they have when buses or rail systems fail that certain day.

JEEPNEYS

Jeepneys, known as the "King of the Philippine Roads”, is the most popular and affordable public transportation both in cities and countryside despite having several mechanical issues due to it being the oldest mode of transportation in the country. However, in recent years, jeepneys have been criticized for being one of the primary sources of air pollution and traffic risk, opening up the idea to replace jeepneys with more advanced and environmental-friendly, also known as e-Jeepneys. It has been recommended, incessantly, and at times forcefully, by the government the immediate replacement of the traditional jeepneys in favor of e-Jeepneys. However, the burden of purchasing e-Jeepneys is placed, not in part but in whole, on the drivers. This is especially problematic since the average jeepney driver has a low-socioeconomic status, and the cost of an e-Jeepney is equivalent to over a decade of their income.

Jeepney drivers have to pay a "boundary" fee that pays for their use of the vehicle. Rent payment, if you will. The driver's whole day earning is divided between the boundary, gas, and oil, leaving them with a small amount to take home. This system leaves no choice for the drivers to make the most of their driving hours by exceeding the legal 8 driving hours per day and usually driving faster and more aggressively to be able to take more passengers at a time than allowed.

TRICYCLES

Lastly, tricycles are the smallest type of public transportation only used within cities and usually not allowed on highways. Tricycle drivers, like jeepney drivers, receive a lot of criticism due to illegal terminals that occupy a quarter of the road which blocks the flow of traffic. The e-tricycle, often known as an e-trike, is viewed as a viable alternative to the noisy, polluting, energy-draining, and more expensive motorized tricycle. Tricycles are prohibited from operating on major roadways in Metro Manila, and they can only be seen on local streets.

CONCLUSIONS

To summarize, the Philippines' transportation system provides a good degree of service for its economic status. Unfortunately, the government has little intervention in the operation of public utility vehicles and a lot of inadequacy in subsidizing these vehicles. Because traffic rules and regulations are not strictly enforced, PUVs are able to operate with greater flexibility, which, on the other hand, magnifies traffic congestion in many areas. The limited road space has been overwhelmed by the increasing number of vehicles, contributing significantly to traffic congestion on several roadways.