Commuting means waking up before the sun even rises just so you can avoid traffic and get to school on time. It means bracing yourself for the one-hour travel time—even without the traffic. And it means having to deal with people who are most likely just as cranky or groggy as you are, because of the early hour.
Taking into consideration the high number of commuters, which is more than the number of available public utility vehicles (PUVs), as well as the heavy traffic, one can say that the mere idea of commuting to somewhere is a nightmare.
Using other countries’ public transport as basis, such as Japan’s efficient trains and railways, one can only describe the Philippines’ own public transport system as severely in need for improvement.
Although it is acknowledged that our government is making efforts to improve our situation, such as the creation of “Bagong Jeeps” (BEEP), the current state of our public transport is still poor. As a result, numerous Filipino workers exhaust themselves going to and from their decided destinations.
As Filipinos are the ones who mainly use and facilitate these amenities, it can be said that the state of the Philippine’s public transport system is a representation of the Filipino. The lack of discipline that drivers have, which greatly contributes to the heavy flow of traffic, points back to how Filipinos unknowingly cause the problems which they continuously gripe about.
The Filipino’s driving methods isn’t the only thing that needs improvement. The continuous and repetitive way in which the MRT and LRT breaks down and is repaired also displays a mentality which most Filipinos have. There is a saying that goes, “If it isn’t broken, then don’t fix it.” However, the mentality which most Filipinos exhibit is that, “As long as it still works, keep it.”
Despite the numerous malfunctions of our transit systems, we still continuously prefer to have them fixed rather than buy a new model altogether. Despite the allocated funds which the government has provided for the improvement of our transport system, the small changes that the LRT and MRT had on their stations don’t discredit the fact that the shuttle systems still break down.
The problems which concern our public transport system are wicked problems, meaning such problems are impossible or difficult to solve because of multiple, incomplete, and sometimes contrary factors which make the efforts of the government in vain. Some factors being poor urban planning and the lack of alternative means if the current PUVs are modified.
Similarly, this goes for certain Filipino mindsets. Trying to pin down the exact reason as to why people think a certain way is a convoluted and tedious task which may or may not even bring back successful results.
So at night, we still commute—where it means lining up for more than half an hour just to be able to get an FX home, where it means practically standing on the highway as you try to hail a jeep, and where you try not to take your travelling time for granted so you either sleep or read your assigned readings on the way home.
