Philippines suffer #climatechange caused by developed countries

BBC News - Typhoon Hagupit sweeps across Philippines: "Typhoon Hagupit is sweeping across the eastern Philippines, toppling trees and power lines and threatening coastal areas with a powerful sea-surge."

Philippine Commuters Are Challenging Politicians to Ride Public Transport at Rush Hour · Global Voices

Global Voices: "Netizens called on officials to ride the Metro Rail Transit (MRT) as well as the Philippine National Railways (PNR), which run across the country’s national capital region, during the rush hour to experience for themselves the difficulties that ordinary commuters experience every day."

Makati presses offer for free bus rides to MRT commuters

Celebrity Philippines: "The Makati City government is not giving up on its free shuttle services so easily.
In a letter sent to the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB), Makati Mayor Jejomar Erwin S. Binay renewed his call for the LTFRB to allow the city’s free bus shuttle services for MRT commuters on  “compassionate grounds.”
Binay reassured LTFRB chairman Winston Ginez that the city government shared the agency’s concern for the welfare of the riding public.
“When Makati decided to offer free shuttle services, our intention was to help ease the suffering of our riders, to show them that government is sensitive to their needs and will go the extra mile to serve them,” Binay stated.
The mayor cited the long lines and frequent mechanical breakdowns at MRT that have greatly inconvenienced commuters as “an emergency situation that requires government intervention.”"

In Philippines, #freetransit leads to more transit

philstar.com: "Makati Mayor Jejomar Erwin Binay has also committed to purchase four more new buses to augment the six city-owned vehicles being used for the free transport program, which has been well-received by the riding public.

“Our present fleet of vehicles could only accommodate up to 250 passengers per trip, and the overwhelming response of the public to our program in its initial run has prompted our decision to add more buses, so that more citizens would benefit,” Binay said."

Thousands of old trees to be killed to make way for traffic

Bro Martin Francisco Bsmp: "Thousands of trees all over the Philippines, many of them century-old, have been cut for road widening and infrastructure development projects of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH). Many more trees face the same fate. In several cases, road widening was deemed unnecessary."

DOTC eyes bus rapid transit, more walkways, car-less cities

rappler : ""The goal is for the private car owners to use public transport. How do you do that? By improving public transport systems so hopefully you'll get less cars on the road. We're pretty confident that it would work," she told Rappler last Wednesday, April 16."

Government admits #publictransit inadequate, declines invitation to ride

Palace exec apologizes for chiding commuters - Manila Standard Today: "“We apologize and ask for understanding from our countrymen for the sacrifices they bear everyday. While waiting for the new MRT-3 coaches, the government will continue to look for measures to ease this problem,” Coloma said.

Coloma, however, was lukewarm to suggestions that Aquino and his Cabinet officials ride the MRT-3 to experience for themselves the inconvenience suffered by ordinary passengers everyday.

“There have also been times that we take public transportation. We do not ride private vehicles all the time,” he said.

“We understand their plight just looking at the capacity of the MRT-3 coaches and the ridership. You can immediately see that the capacity is insufficient,” Coloma added."

Free buses desperately needed in Manila

Makati City Hall to LTFRB: don't suspend free bus service for workers - InterAksyon.com: "The city government has been fielding several buses to transport passengers from the Metro Rail System (MRT) North Avenue station in Quezon City to Ayala Avenue, amid spreading unrest over the misery of MRT commuters owing to frequent breakdowns of the overloaded system.  For weeks now, workers who used to take MRT to reach offices early have had to brave long queues just to get to the ticket windows or turnstiles, extending the usual travel time by twice over, or more.

On Thursday, however, the LTFRB told Makati City Hall to secure the required special permit to continue offering the free bus service."

Makati expands free transport

Manila Standard Today: "The Makati City government will purchase four more buses to provide free shuttle to commuters from Quezon City to report for work in Makati City.

Mayor Jejomar Erwin Binay said the service was launched last March 27.


“Our present fleet of vehicles could only accommodate up to 250 passengers per trip, and the overwhelming response of the public to our program in its initial run has prompted our decision to add more buses, so that more citizens would benefit,” he said."

Private auto gets unfair share of the road

Tony Oposa

rappler.com : "The case is focused on the premise that only a small percentage of Filipinos (less than 1/8 of the population) can afford to own a private vehicle, yet the space they can occupy on the road is larger than that given to the majority who are bikers and commuters."

The use of road space is undemocratic

Alabado: Street revolution | Sun.Star: "Local executives and traffic managers have always turned a blind eye on the issue of modern modes and systems of public transportation. They have always been very lenient on the private vehicles but very strict on public transportation. Case in point – look at the on-street parking that our local government allows on many streets. The designated loading and unloading bays of the jeepneys are but a few and limited but on-street parking is allowed the whole day round. A jeepney transports at least 10 people and a car normally transports only two so why should private vehicle be it cars or motorcycles be allowed to occupy one or two lane exclusively thus further restricting the flow of traffic in the downtown area?"

Share the Road Movement

Share the Road Movement: "“We need to recognize that urban transport is primarily about people, not motor vehicles; therefore, we need an urban transport policy which does not privilege the minority who use motor vehicles, but rather, provides accessibility for all.”
Prof. Madhav Badami"

Petition filed to give half of PH roads to commuters

Eco-Business : "On the first day of construction of new major road projects in Metro Manila, citizens walked to the Supreme Court protesting traffic, alarming levels of air pollution, and inefficient public transport.

They demanded not for more roads but for roads to be divided in half: one half for motor vehicles and the other half for efficient forms of public transport like covered walkways, bike lanes, bus rapid transit, and trains. (READ: Commuters to gov’t: Limit cars to half of the road)"

Philippines - 3% of population owning cars get use of 97% of roads

BusinessMirror : "He said people who occupy motorized vehicles are a small minority, yet they should occupy the proportionate space in the road.

“The [country’s] population is about 95 million. How many are car owners, about 3 million? Then they should only occupy 3 percent of the roads, while the 97 percent occupies the 97 percent,” he said.

Oposa said there are laws, which the government should have been implementing, to prevent air pollution and there are measures that could effectively address the problem.

The traffic congestion that causes 80 percent of air pollution in Metro Manila, he said, should be addressed and one way is changing the mind-set of the Filipino people about cars.

Cars, he said, is occupied by only one people while a bus can take in 60 people, occupying almost the same space in the road.

Oposa said instead of cars that run on money and make people fat, people should use bicycles that run on fat and save money for the people.

“In using cars, we literally burn money for the use of gas,” he said.

There are a number of things the government can do under the law, he said."

Instead of telling people not to drive, fix #publictransit

Yes, public officials should use public transport | BusinessWorld Online: "Lantin, who at one time headed LTFRB, should have known better than to target private motorists, as he noted that public transportation comprised only one out of eight vehicles on the road. For a former LTFRB chief, he seems to have little recollection of the dismal state of public transportation in this country. And that being the case, private motoring is not just a privilege or a choice. It is actually an expensive must, particularly for many in the middle-income bracket who practice professions or run small businesses.



If Lantin wants fewer private cars on the road, then he and his ilk should first fix public transportation -- make them safe, accessible, and affordable, even for people with disabilities. A recent story in the The Atlantic in the US cited a study by the University of Michigan’s Transportation Research Institute that “the five [US] cities with the highest proportions of households without a vehicle were all among the top five cities in a recent ranking of the quality of public transportation.”"



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Big powers keep fighting energy wars, while Philippines pay the price in #climate

CREDIT: REUTERS/ERIK DE CASTRO

Super typhoon victims flee again as rains flood southern Philippines | Reuters: "(Reuters) - Emergency workers evacuated thousands of people across the southern Philippines on Tuesday, including many already made homeless by a typhoon in November, after three days of rain flooded towns and farmland."

Are your senators willing to commute?

rappler.com : "MANILA, Philippines – Imagine VIPs in government falling in the long line to get on the train, going up escalators often out of order, waiting out 3 or more trips before getting on, and squishing into jampacked coaches a la sardines. Imagine them riding old and rusty jeepneys and buses, some aptly described as killer vehicles.

In short, imagine these top officials experiencing what you go through regularly, if not every day. (READ: Commuting on the MRT)

This scenario is the subject of a campaign by writer and editor Dinna Dayao in Change.org, an online petition platform. Since August 2013, Dayao has been calling on President Benigno Aquino III to require all public officials to take public transportation at least once a month."

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Billions of pesos spent on roads has not solved traffic congestion, meanwhile #transit riders suffer

Public servants, take the train!: "Traffic is the only problem car-riding officials face. It’s no wonder, then, that they focus on “curing traffic congestion rather than improving public transportation,” says urban planner Benjamin de la Peña in an editorial.

“Every flyover and every underpass we’ve built in Metro Manila – all in all costing billions and billions of pesos – was meant to solve traffic congestion,” says de la Peña. “None of it works and none of it will work because focusing on the needs of the 20% (who ride cars) and ignoring the 80% (who depend on public transportation) is insane.”"

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