Epifanio de los Santos Avenue UNAPPRECIATION

[255forlife]

i don't know about the rest of you, but i hate driving on EDSA anytime. even at like 11pm or midnight, there's still ridiculous traffic sometimes.


read this editorial in the Star the other day and it really hit home..


i feel bad sometimes when i drive visitors around and have to show them such an eyesore of a national avenue. wonder what can be done to clean it up..

Get those big bullies off the road
AS A MATTER OF FACT By Sara Soliven De Guzman
Monday, December 10, 2007

The perennial problem of traffic and pollution until now has not been resolved - what's happening? When we drive along EDSA we still experience passenger buses zooming and bumping along the highway, not to mention dangerously weaving in and out of traffic to grab waiting commuters from their rivals. My friend's car got hit by a bus in Cubao and all the bus driver could do was to scratch his head and smile and tell her "pasensya na po ma'm." My friend got furious and asked the driver what he was going to do about it. He could not give her a straight answer. The cops came and recorded the incident but to this day the bus company has not even lifted a finger. What a frustrating and agonizing accident all because of recklessness and stupidity. I told her what do you expect to get from a government that is very weak in implementing the law and convicting the criminals what more in resolving her problem.

The driver seemed to have had trouble with the gears, while others surmised it had lost its brakes. Losing brakes if you recall is always a convenient alibi and most-often invoked. It is no secret that the LTO is very lax in issuing driving licenses. This is apparent when you spot so many careless, insolent, and selfish drivers, frustratingly, on our streets. They just don't observe common courtesy or any traffic rules, because many of them are ignorant of the rules. They never had to undergo written or practical testing. This sort of neglect actually kills people, including the drivers themselves, not to mention hapless pedestrians. Remember what happened to Rene Saguisag's fatal tragedy? This is a very concrete and recent example of such tragedy. Susmariosep!

If we look deeper into the root causes of so many accidents, including this terrible one, we will find that our national policy is also to blame. LTO better review its regulations in accepting transport franchises because even the less-than qualified applicants are able to operate. This easy access in the transportation business has truly become a detriment of the public.

We have 400 or more bus operators running more than 3,000 buses, most of them decrepit along EDSA - such a showcase of chaos and pollution. I think Congress should look closer into this problem instead of prancing about other bills that have no significance to the ordinary people. Traffic is a problem of everyone so let's cut to chase and try to resolve this one. The traffic gridlock is an awful economic waste. It saps public morale, exhausts our executives and workers on the road, savages the health of our population. The real costs of these disadvantages are astronomical. So we're not "saving" money, after all.

These unruly, ignorant bus drivers (including truck, jeepney and taxi drivers for that matter) are a menace on the road. LTO's solution is to give them a yearly training but subjecting them to mandatory training and testing before permitting them back on the road is a weak "placebo." As you and I know how it goes, these fly-by-night operators and untrained unworthy drivers always manage to evade such conditions by "greasing" a few palms and getting a license or a clearance. In a land of counterfeits (where we can "fake" diplomas, certificates and records) can we make such a tepid crackdown work? I hope Berroya can prove his worth and overstay at the LTO by putting an end to the many flaws in his Office.

Everyday as we drive down EDSA we notice our own traffic policemen and traffic aides miserably covering their noses with white handkerchiefs. This is owing to the fact that, night and day, they have to breathe in that "poison" as they direct traffic and try desperately to keep wayward buses in line. The difficult truth is that not only are the officers suffering but also the daily commuters - and what have our Congressmen and Senators done? As the Spanish say goes, NADA (nothing). Why? Because you guys up there do not feel the heat. You are riding in your air-conditioned vehicles guided by a patrol car or police escort in motorbikes even going against the traffic. How dare you? If anyone should go against the traffic, it should be the citizens (who pay you with our hard earned taxes) to serve us - but you have not done anything. You even allow your relatives to take advantage of your position. In Katipunan, Quezon City where traffic is a never-ending story, I saw a police escort stop all the vehicles while a congressman went against traffic coming out of La Vista Village. The policemen manning the road obviously fear stopping such vehicles for they may lose their jobs. So what is the rule? Are all Congressmen, Senators, government officials really allowed to have escorts with wang-wangs? Can their relatives like sons and daughters also have escorts? Who will stop these arrogant so-called "public servants" of the land? This has become one of my pet-peeves. I am sure many Pinoys are also annoyed by them. Try experiencing our agony so that for once you can resolve this problem within a day in Congress or at the Senate. Only in the Philippines talaga - hindi na kayo nahiya!

May I also remind Chairman Bayani Fernando to please take a closer look into all the temporary cemented barriers on our major roads. C'mon sir! Have mercy on us. As we drive, we sometimes miss seeing those concrete blocks especially at night. Talaga naman they can cause our lives. They are also the reason of more traffic congestion. Yup! Those U-turn approaches which you think helped ease the traffic are a nuisance now. So stop experimenting and get an experienced expert help the MMDA plan the roads.

My father always pushed for the cleaning up of EDSA, in one of his columns he wrote: "EDSA is our country's main street. It is the most important traffic artery. But what do we see? A dingy, ugly boulevard, in gridlock much of the time. The buildings alongside it are dirty, unpainted, and an architectural mishmash. Absolutely no zoning has been enforced. There have been no attempts to beautify it along any stretch. No trees to line the boulevard, no flowers, just smudged, repulsive and neglected facades. For that matter, I wish I could say it poorly lighted but the truth is that EDSA is unlighted. EDSA is a national road - and therefore, is the responsibility of the national government. So Malacanang cannot sidestep the question and blame the local governments along the way. Our people have, for generations, prided themselves as being warm, caring, and sympathetic race, devoted to beauty and striving for the finer things in life. Our national hero, Dr. Jose Rizal, was a writer, poet, sculptor, painter - and a lover of all things beautiful. Why have we not followed his lead? EDSA, I submit, should be declared an insult to our national character, not a reflection of it."

Let's do something about it, once and for all.

 

[lebrongames]

Zzzzz

 

[kingcrux31]

I love driving on Highway 54 at 4 am in the morning from QC to Pasay.

 

[paolo10]

are they still working on it on the stretch near guadalupe?

 

[size twelve]

i guess you guys must not have to drive EDSA going to and from work.


i'm frickin exhausted from breathing all the bus exhaust and having to drive all gangster to keep my lane from being taken by a taxi or AUV or something.and i'm mad that the cops just chill on the side, not trying to help or ease traffic at all, but looking to pull folks over and take some of theirhard-earned money for the slightest infractions, while ignoring all the buses and taxis and such ('cause they have no cash for the pulis)


if i could only afford to take a helicopter everyday for my daily commute, i would fly over it all and laugh.

 

[marcuskicks]

Originally Posted by size twelve

if i could only afford to take a helicopter everyday for my daily commute, i would fly over it all and laugh.

true! haha good thing i only have to commute from guadalupe to ortigas.