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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