Travel Woes; There Ought To Be Dialogs
Quezon

Travel Woes; There Ought To Be Dialogs

Jan 3, 2023, 1:23 AM
OpinYon Editorial

OpinYon Editorial

Writer

Back in the ‘80s, it only took two hours of travel time from Metro Manila to Lucena, and four hours from the Metro to Lopez, the last town proper along the stretch of Pan-Philippine Highway before entering the next province which is Camarines Norte. That is not the case now.

Four hours is now normal and six hours when peak season from Metro Manila to Lucena, the capitol city, and six hours to Lopez under normal circumstances, and eight to ten hours during peak seasons.

Worst during holidays as Holy Week, All Saint’s Day and Christmas when it could last from 12 hours and up.

In order to solve the worsening travel woes in the province, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) did some road widening projects and opening of bypass roads. It has definitely helped. But then, there are other problems.

Maintenance and road repairs, which are often common when election time is near, and destruction caused by natural calamities also cause traffic gridlock.

Then there are others brought about by transportation operators if it is their order, or the workers of these companies who needed to reach the quota of the day. Buses stop at each potential spot where passengers might be picked up even if it meant waiting like there is no tomorrow, without respect to the time of other passengers.

While public transport is serious business where operators need to profit from, there has got to be some responsible measures so as not to exhaust the patience of the affected commuters. While other passengers vent their disgust and disappointments, most merely suffer in silence.

In this era when it’s easy to loan or purchase vehicles for private use, it’s also easy to jam the streets with cars, whether private or government-owned. These types of vehicles seem to outnumber the public transportations, and they crowd the streets everyday. Add irresponsible attitudes of some drivers that actually contribute to the misery on the street scene.

Of course, there are other areas of concern as similar situations occur in the provinces that Quezon-bound vehicles need to pass by. So double trouble, even triple, and so on.

Do these not matter? They do!

Traveling for a day when it could be just four hours is more than enough reason to seriously look for solutions. A lot of time that could have been used to working profitably is wasted everyday for everyone. Time is really gold, but we are throwing it away.

DPWH seems to be doing its job on this. More bypass, ecotourism and diversion roads are being opened. But how about the other areas of concern? Traffic operators also need to craft their own solutions to the problem, and the Land Transportation Office.

Local governments in the Laguna-Batangas-Quezon area can do something to ease the traffic situation especially on the age-old traffic locations as well. Seek experts and let them help. We need a dialogue. There is a problem, and an urgent solution is needed. Travel woes need to be resolved.


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