Some people blame the traffic crisis to car dealers. They also think that we keep on selling cars just to make a big buck in total disregard of the traffic situation. Not true. I wish it were that simple. We just keep selling cards to make money. I wish.
Our businesses and other businesses as well are affected in a negative way by the traffic condition in the metropolis. Since we are in retail, prospective customers are discouraged to go out and visit our showrooms due to the enormous traffic they would spend on the road to reach us and back. “Nakakatamad lumabas, kasi ang traffic.” Businesses are losing billions of lost opportunities. NEDA, ADB, have the data. Isn’t this a crisis?
We burn gas while parked at EDSA, while waiting for the traffic to move. Instead of consuming gas for 15 minutes, the engines burn fuel for 2 – 3hours. We are choking Metro Manilans to a slow death by bombarding our bodies with toxic fumes. We are a big contributor to global warming. I say this is a crisis.
A 15-minute drive along EDSA is now a two-hour trip and 3 hours on a bad day. I say this is a crisis. Commuters queuing up for hours to ride public transport is a crisis.
Government officials have wang-wangs and hawi boys. During the time of Pnoy I thought that was banned but today I still see them around. Good for the politicians, government officials, they don’t experience sitting in the traffic for 4 hours a day. And since they derive their income from the budget given to their respective government offices, they don’t worry about zero customers, payment of utilities, sales, taxes, gas, electricity, payroll.
Excuse me, may I pass?
Traffic would not come to this point, had there been more train lines, better public transpo, earlier and faster road construction. The past is blamed for lack of forsight and action. That time, other neighbor countries invested in infra when it was cheaper but our country thought it was good not to spend our reserve. Today we are paying more for it. What good is it to save since 2009 when interest rates are so low while inflation exceeds it.
Hi Joey, I completely agree with you. The past governments failed to lay out long term plans that would have prevented this transportation crisis that is causing havoc to all of us and preventing real progress to spread out. Governments are short-sighted and only do projects that they could finish within their terms. They only think of themselves. They don’t have foresight. In many parts of Italy, they built train tracks long before there was a train and before people have inhabited the land.
In Taiwan, they keep building roads, bridges, flyovers, and yet there are no heavy traffic in the area. They are preparing it for future progress. They anticipate that there would be increased traffic so even before that happens, they already have a solution in place.