IT is always good to let people offer different ideas when you are looking for solutions. It is even better to have impractical and unrealistic ideas on the table that can be discarded later.
Metro Manila has a traffic problem. It also has a problem reducing air pollution. But two ideas that have been floated recently seem to put all the blame on automobiles.
The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) is pushing for the implementation of Euro 4-compliant fuel standards, as well as for the phasing out of aging vehicles to improve air quality.
The stricter fuel-standard compliance rules are programmed to take effect in January 2016, but the DENR wants to move this to the middle of 2015. While we can certainly appreciate the need for less pollution from automobiles, what is missing in the DENR’s proposal is any estimate on the cost of such a move. New ideas are always welcome, but we need to be assured that this is not just talk for public-relations purposes. Where are the specifics?
Further, the DENR is urging the Department of Transportation and Communications to phase out vehicles that are 15 years old or older in order to reduce the volume of vehicles in Metro Manila. That is all well and good, but it is likely that the reason tens of thousands of older cars are still on the road is because their owners cannot afford to buy newer ones.
The price of a good, 14-year-old second-hand car is at least P100,000, an amount that may take months to earn for an ordinary person driving an older car. Of course, we might hear that the solution for one who cannot afford to buy a newer, better car is to take public transportation.
The easiest solution to any problem is to just eliminate it. If there are too many cars creating traffic at rush hour, then simply ban them during such hours. Problem solved.
A Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board member has suggested banning private vehicles on Epifanio de los Santos Avenue (Edsa) during weekday mornings, so that the goal of removing 80 percent of all cars during that time of day will be achieved.
Part of this plan involves allowing the “early birds”, like students, teachers and some employees, to use their cars or public transportation on Edsa first. Then middle managers and, finally, those occupying top positions in companies would use Edsa later.
But the “early birds” probably drive the old cars that the DENR would like to see banned. We might see a time when there would virtually be no cars on Edsa.
To consider many different ideas is good, but we need ideas that are sensible and practical.
Image credits: Jimbo Albano