THE transport and mobility problem that we have plunged ourselves into in Metro Manila is not going to be solved overnight even if we elect the most efficient officials in sight. This is a situation that has come about after years of no planning, neglect of the facts on the ground and mismanagement of maintenance. There is one more and bigger cause in the mix – the total lack of discipline of people who use our streets as motorists, pedestrians, public utility drivers as well as local officials and local populations. Anything goes for their own purposes and never mind the neighbor.

Here are the indicators of such indiscipline. Buses and jeeps stop where the passenger requests them to stop. Nowhere in the world is this an on-going operation of public utility vehicles. Even taxis elsewhere can’t stop in the middle of the street, on pedestrian lanes, on corners, or just about anywhere (opposite on-coming traffic even) that will impede the normal flow of traffic as witnessed here. And these vehicles do not bother to stop at the curb. In the middle of the street is the usual mode where passengers embark or disembark putting themselves and everyone else in grave danger of an accident.

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