Sometime in August 2019, a photo I shared on Facebook – of a crowd of people waiting for buses at the EDSA – Ayala southbound bus stop – went viral, with over 38,000 reactions and 23,000 shares.
I was dumbfounded. Why the heck would one guy’s rant about the lack of public transport (pre-pandemic) resonate with so many people?
-o0o-
During that time, I still worked at OpinYon’s offices in Makati City, and commuting meant I had to catch a jeepney either to the LRT Buendia area or to the MRT Ayala southbound bus stop, where I could catch a bus to San Pedro.
There were times when trying to catch a bus means either waiting for an hour or two or walking down the entire stretch of EDSA to as far away to Estrella or Guadalupe just to catch a bus that wasn’t full.
In one worst-case scenario, buses to Pacita were already jammed full of people at Boni Avenue. And by the time the Taal Volcano erupted early in January 2020, I was sometimes forced to take the MRT to Ortigas Avenue just to catch an empty seat.
Here's my caption on that photo:
“This is a scene my heart breaks to see every other night. People waiting for a bus home crowding the three lanes of the Ayala southbound bus stop, waiting for an hour (or two, if unlucky). When they can (as in, no policemen in sight), they would cross the other side of Ayala Avenue and walk as far as Buendia. And when a bus does come, people would rush to it like it's a free ice-cream truck.
“I have a question to the MMDA: is this what you want all of us who cannot afford even the downpayment of a car to endure every night? No wonder productivity in Metro Manila is fast draining. Commuting now takes six hours every day. That, plus an eight-hour workday, means people are tired all the time. Not just tired - exhausted! Every day! And you expect that kind of populace to be on top of their job?
“Why don't the stooges that run our traffic system get out of their cars and experience being a commuter for once? You know what, I had this irrational nightmare that this crowd might one day turn into anarchic zombies who would resort to carjacking just to get home. Is that what you want, MMDA?
-o0o-
I no longer work in Makati City, having been transferred to OpinYon’s San Pedro office after the first Covid-19 lockdowns in 2020. Commuting now meant a 15-minute jeepney ride to Pacita, and traffic jams and lack of buses are now a distant nightmare to me.
Today, however, seeing the pictures on social media of crowds of bus commuters waiting – either at the MRT Ayala bus stop where I took that picture, or at bus stops at the EDSA Busway – made me realize that the Covid-19 pandemic has never really changed the “car-centric” mindset of some of our government officials.