Editorial: Not a V-hire problem after all

[taga_ipil]

---

Editorial: Not a V-hire problem after all
Sunday, March 6, 2011

THE FAILED experiment to change the routes of vehicles-for-hire (V-hire) in Lapu- Lapu City was met with ju*****ion by commuters, V-hire drivers and operators.

Through petitions, letters in local dailies, and radio commentaries, the public and the media pointed out the inconvenience caused by the abrupt implementation of the new route, particularly in the absence of public consultation. Students and workers complained about the longer time and marked inconvenience of commuting to and from Lapu-Lapu City via “habal-habal (motorcycle for hire),” “trisikad (bicycles with sidecars),” tricycles and jeepneys.

According to a March 4 report by Sun.Star Superbalita’s Flor V. Querubin, a return of the “status quo” was the agreement reached after a March 3 consultative meeting of the Lapu-Lapu committee on transportation and about 200 stakeholders.

Livability priorities

Though a failure, the one-week “dry run” of the new Lapu-Lapu V-hire terminal was not without benefits.

The costs on the commuting public will not be for naught if these are used as basis for the planning and implementation of improvements on public transportation by the Lapu-Lapu City Government.

The junked policy may have cleared the streets—an effect that must not have been lost to participants, visitors and media covering the Davis Cup match between the Philippines and Japan, which was held in Lapu-Lapu City, the first time such an event was conducted outside of Metro Manila.

Yet the Lapu-Lapu City Government must also balance visitors’ praise with the needs of its constituents. After all, livability—a key standard measuring development—rates a locality’s quality of life, as assessed by residents, businessmen and other stakeholders. It bears on many essential indicators, not just tourism.

More than an island

Used in two authoritative annual surveys measuring living conditions—the “Mercer Quality of Living Survey” and The Economist’s “World’s Most Livable Cities”—public transportation is a crucial indicator of livability, which was created to give employers a “basis for assigning hardship allowances as part of job relocation.”

The ideal public transport system merges access, affordability, entrepreneurship and ecological sustainability, minimizing congestion, land use and emissions of air pollution and greenhouse gases.

After the one-week dry run, many commuters still prefer to shoulder the relatively higher cost but greater convenience of commuting via V-hire.

“Trisikads” and tricycles have many drawbacks, from the standpoint of safety, convenience, cost and traffic. They are uncomfortable and even risky for passengers carrying baggage, the young and the elderly. These public utility vehicles regularly practice overloading, with a tricycle often carrying as many as six or seven passengers, with other load. There is no fixed fare, with drivers charging rates higher than that of jeepneys for the same distance traveled or according to an exorbitant “pakyaw (rate haggled for carrying only one passenger)” system.

Since the Lapu-Lapu City Government has warned V-hire drivers and operators from violating the “no soliciting of passenger” limitation of its franchise, it should also strictly implement the rule to bar or arrest “habal-habal,” “trisikad” or tricycle drivers who stop at any point to pick up passengers, even if they obstruct traffic. Does the local government even require seminars on traffic rules and courtesy before issuing or renewing their licenses?

For public safety, the local committee on transportation should consider limiting or banning “habal-habal,” “trisikad” and tricycles from plying major routes. Such a scheme should consider alternative livelihoods for drivers displaced by such a scheme.

The piloting of the “centralized” V-hire terminal scheme also made many commuters experience the dilapidated streets, lack of canals and even absence of sidewalks in many key parts of Lapu-Lapu City. A major reason heightening the risks to life and limb posed by commuting via “habal-habal,” “trisikad” or “tricycle” is the lack of transport infrastructure basics or maintenance.

These are a few but the most important lessons commuters acquired from the failed V-hire experiment. The Lapu-Lapu City Government should act on these to rescue that experiment from total failure.

Source

PURYA GABA!