Oxymoron:  Jeepney and modernization
VIEW FROM CALUMPANG

Oxymoron: Jeepney and modernization

Sep 23, 2024, 7:15 AM
Diego S. Cagahastian

Diego S. Cagahastian

Columnist

The jeepney drivers and operators who are identified with the Left are agitated again, as they pursue the path of protest, tigil-pasada, rallies and strikes. They also petitioned the Supreme Court on their main demand: the scrapping of the government's jeepney modernization program.

There are 23 senators, and 22 of them have signed a petition urging President Bongbong to delay or thrash the modernization program. Risa Hontiveros did not sign; her bosses in the Woke society and the WEF demand compliance, after all they are the real rulers of the world. Filipino constituents can go to hell.


Come to think of it, the words "jeepney" and "modernization" are two opposing concepts---an oxymoron. However hard Filipinos love the jeepney, it is still the old relic of the last world war, salvaged and refurbished from the US army's vehicle fleet that they left in Manila 75 years ago.


We have to recognize that the jeepney system with its concepts of "boundary" wages, short and parochial routes, unreliable and unsafe service and its contribution to environmental pollution, cannot be modernized. The vehicles may be replaced by bigger and air-conditioned units but they follow the same messy route system and thus cannot really be called "modern."


What is modern are the robotaxis in a number of cities in the US. China's fleet of computer-driven electric cars without drivers--that's modern. San Francisco in California is currently experimenting with driverless buses, less than a week after California regulators gave the green light to the expansion of robotaxis. These buses do not have a driver's seat or a steering wheel and will run daily as a free shuttle service in a fixed route called the Loop around Treasure Island.


It is understandable that we cannot as yet have a public transport system that can approximate those in California and Beijing, but at least we should try to modernize our transport sector both its physical fleet of motor vehicles and the system of time-bound route management.


In the Philippines, we have similar places that are conducive to really modern transport experiments such as the one in California. We might mention here the Makati business district, Subic, Clark and the Mall of Asia area.


We are happy that the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) announced last week that it has partnered with the private sector and launched the country's first smart autonomous bus service.


The 17 self-driving buses from Japan will initially be used at the New Clark City, Clark Freeport Zone, and Clark International Airport. It will also be a free service for Clark commuters until July 2025.


Office and factory workers in huge industrial locators inside the Clark Freeport Zone complex will be greatly benefited by these self-driving buses, considering that they have to fall in line to board public transportation such as jeepneys in commuting from their places of work to their residences in Angeles City and Mabalacat.

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