Hello there, DOTr and LTFRB! Before we even begin, here’s a proper disclosure: this piece is from someone who, for the most part, had the privilege of having personal transportation. For this article, the current context, though, is that this privilege was foregone for the better part of a year to see, feel, and live the state of commuting in Metro Manila, particularly with jeepneys and buses. This is our letter to your good offices.
Commuting via jeeps and buses is sad, sorry, and deplorable, and the DOTr and LTFRB have a mountain to climb to help commuters
Dear DOTr and LTFRB, commuting in Metro Manila is one of the worst things anyone must have to do. Please allow me to explain. As someone who was protected by private transportation for most of his life, I was always afforded a privilege that many more simply do not have. Seeing commuters lined up, scrambling past (and even through) one another to jockey for a position nearest the door, bodily boxing others out, and having to hunch over or squeeze past already-standing passengers was something my eyes were used to, but was, to my body, alien. Unknown.
In my younger years, I would resort to sabit when riding a jeepney from West Avenue to cross EDSA towards SM North. I’ve probably taken the bus a few times, but nothing was as memorable about it, except those selling nuts and chips and the smell of exhaust fumes hanging in the air. A “part of the experience”, we’ve all come to accept. Back then, it seemed more bearable compared to what commuting has evolved into in this day and age. And so, given certain circumstances, I both wanted to and needed to experience the plight of many to be able to apply some degree of ethos to this letter to you.
I promise to try and make it as short and as concise as I can.
The DOTr, in cooperation with the LTFRB, has been adamant about the modernization of jeepneys and PUVs in general. While some efforts have moved forward, the fact remains that many still have to get on and use dilapidated, noisy, and simply unsafe jeepneys as their primary means of transportation. This is not at all elderly-friendly, and even younger passengers would have a difficult time moving to and from his or her seats by hunkering down. Thank heavens for your departments’ efforts and for having introduced modern PUVs!
But see, this remains as an idea, an ideal. Deadlines for consolidation and the eventual total modernization via the PUVMP have been moved and would look to go down the path of “forgotten again” more times than the opposite, so how now?
For those taking the bus, traditional or air-conditioned, the problem is that the drivers and conductors would keep stopping (sometimes at places where it’s actually illegal to stop) to take passengers in. It’s normal, right? Sure, but not when the bus is already full to the brim with passengers. Yes, even if a commuter wakes up as early as they can to take the bus as early as they can will be met with a bus that waits until it’s already come to “sardinas” proportions of passengers inside, and only then will it move.
You want the icing on the cake? They would still stop at the other bus stops along the way and still take more passengers in. Unhealthy, unsafe, there are a lot of adjectives we can think of, but we’ll leave it to your imagination. Old, busted, broken-down non-air-conditioned buses still ply the road, and even the newer ones that quickly go into a state of disrepair will be quick to follow, we are sure. So again, how now? What now?
As for traditional jeepneys, we did mention earlier that they are dilapidated, noisy, and unsafe. And yes, we did mention that the PUVMP is meant to address this, but until such time, perhaps both the DOTr and the LTFRB need a little bit of reminding that this needs a remedy – not a band-aid – STAT. Very recently, a jeepney figured into an accident along Commonwealth Avenue, injuring a number, and unfortunately, killing some. These are not even supposed to happen. Flooring coming off the welds, bench seats about as comfortable as sitting on a hot tree stump, exhaust systems that could put concert ground sound systems to shame, and tires balder than this author all make for a horrid commute.
We haven’t even mentioned the imaginary competition that these jeepney (and even bus) drivers seem to have between themselves. Inasmuch as they step on the gas, they’d step on the brakes and turn the steering wheels like Max V. trying to catch up to a prime Lewis Hamilton. The problem here is that they’re in jeepneys and buses, not Formula One cars. Again, we’re sure the DOTr and LTFRB won’t need much imagination to figure out the worst-case scenario here.
This letter (of sorts) is, again, from a commuter’s point of view. And from this view, of course a couple of thoughts and suggestions will come. First of all, please work on the PUVMP and make it happen. This statement may be met with some torches and pitchforks, but here’s what we think. More avenues can be worked out in order to make it easier for operators and drivers to get a modernized fleet. Whatever the cause of apprehension or outright non-compliance might be, proper education must first be given to drivers and operators, and after which, all parties can find appropriate, educated, logical, and equitable means to provide newer, safer means of public transport.
Next, the issue of drivers and conductors and their “responsibilities” to their Operators. We all know of the “boundary” system where a daily minimum must be met, and only after which will both driver and conductor get “paid” at the end of the day. Let’s not lie to ourselves, this system is what causes the racing, the jostling, the competition, the filling to the brim, and the generally unsafe “unahan and pabilisan and paramihan” mentality of drivers and conductors that constantly and consistently put commuters’ lives in danger. This should be made illegal, if you ask us. It’s unfair to all. It is simply unfair to all.
Finally, there is a long-standing issue that we believe the Land Transportation Office (LTO) under the DOTr, in cooperation with the LTFRB, can and should address. This is the eligibility and ability (whether in the physical and mental states criteria) of drivers to handle public utility vehicles, and take the lives of every single one of their passengers into their hands. Much like the aforementioned jeepney accident, it was also very recently found that a number of drivers and conductors tested positive for illegal substance use. This must be a non-negotiable.
For whatever reason they have for turning to the use of these substances, it is simply illegal. This is made worse by the fact that it is in these individuals’ hands that commuters place their lives into, hoping, praying that they will get to their destination safely, in one piece, and alive. Bring in stronger, heavier penalties for those who violate this law!
A driver’s license is a “privilege, not a right”, right? Make everyone earn it, and earn being able to keep it, more so those who are supposed to be Professional license holders. This one doesn’t even need any exercising of the imagination to see what can, could, has happened, and continues to happen; no substances involved get many into bad situations, what of those that do involve substances?
We did say that this is our love letter to you, and it is. It is a letter that we truly hope makes you realize what love means in the context of daily commuters and their daily routines. To be able to find ways to make commuting safer, more affordable, reliable, dependable, are these not reminders of what love from the DOTr and LTFRB, being branches that affect people’s lives directly, must be? No, we are not so simply professing love to you; rather, we are here trying to rekindle in you the will to properly love those who depend a lot on your Departments’ credibility and abilities.
The world has become a rather selfish place, and sadly, many have resorted to this because they have no choice. It’s a dog-eat-dog world, money makes the world go round, and all of that stuff like that there pushes people to go about their daily lives with nary a care about others. And that is why we address this to you, DOTr and LTFRB (and by virtue, the LTO as well).
To come with a letter expressing vulnerability while expressing hope is something anyone with a beating heart in his or her chest has always been the strongest, the best way to get another to listen. And listen, we hope you will. Think about it. Answer this letter, and you do not give hope and love to just one; you give it to the thousands of commuters who maintain a vision of how things could be and should be.
Again, many sit on a perch of privilege to not know anything of this – these. But for those who deal with it, and for those who may find themselves suddenly needing to deal with it deserve better. They do. And “better” is what many of your projects are built upon, and it is that same thing that everyone looks forward to and prays for.
Will you be ready and willing to make them hold on to a false hope, an impossible dream? We wouldn’t think so.
And we hope we are right.
You forgot to mention how conductors outright overcharge commuters every night. When they about to call it a day, to make habol of the boundary they overcharge commuters. It is also worth noting that they still squeeze in passengers inside like a can of sardines kahit na modern PUV pa. I would like to see a modern PUJ/bus, in a sense that we can get comfortable because of the cool air from the AC, we do not need to worry if the conductor already gave us the change (cause they do tend to forget that) and get our right for discount (PWD, senior citizen, students) by installing a tap-to-pay kind of fare collection like beep cards. I would love to see public transportation that is PWD-friendly as well. Finally, the bus/jeepney routes should be similar to the concept of EDSA bus carousel to avoid dropping off/picking up passengers from everywhere whenever they want to. The drivers should undergo training of public service and GMRC ane become professionals. Like act professional.