EDSA rehab

Not at all facetious is senatorial candidate Panfilo Lacson’s proposal that buses using the EDSA busway travel in the opposite direction.

In fact, Lacson’s pitch isn’t new. He is merely repeating and rearticulating, if I remember right, social media discussions last year on the viability of a counterflow bus route.

Those discussions didn’t gain traction and transport officials didn’t seriously consider the proposal.

Unlike during the pandemic when previous transport officials saw the wisdom of a concerned commuter’s proposal for a dedicated busway, which in turn made the current EDSA bus carousel possible.

Lacson’s pitch, of course, comes after talk on what could be done about the self-entitled nutjobs bent on violating the dedicated busway, who of late even included the police top brass.

Lacson believes, as he piquantly puts it, having buses running counterflow on EDSA “makes the problem solve itself” since no one would be bonkers enough to risk a head-on collision with a bus.

Lacson’s proposal merits serious attention now that the EDSA busway is to be upgraded at the end of this month, prior to its eventual privatization.

Transport officials say the upgrade aims not only to repair the busway but also to improve the bus stations along the route, all for the convenience of thousands of commuters.

So, why not also seriously consider reversing the bus route?

Besides targeting busway violators, the scheme means bus operators need not reconfigure the present bus doors, from the right to the left.

Now, the only probable issue with the reverse scheme is that some portions of EDSA are constricted, like the EDSA-Taft Avenue intersection.

But that issue can be solved by disregarding the cargo truck lobby and banning cargo trucks from using that crucial intersection in going to and from Roxas Boulevard.

At any rate, the upgrading of the EDSA busway will finally shoot down alł harebrained elitist car-centric proposals to do away with the busway in favor of private cars and other vehicles.

Upgrading the busway also kicks off this year’s much-need rehabilitation of EDSA, which is expected to cause massive traffic jams on the already maddeningly traffic-choked roadway.

But EDSA’s total rehab needs to be done since piecemeal rehabilitation of portions of it is really a waste of effort and money.

Which, in turn, means this administration now has the best opportunity to do the right thing for EDSA, if it aims to showcase its integrity and abilities regarding public works projects.

As such, it wouldn’t be too much to demand that this administration deal only with the country’s best and most efficient civil works contractors, as well as use only world-class roadway materials like runway-grade asphalt overlays.

Everyone agrees, however, that investing in rehabilitating EDSA isn’t the magic bullet that will solve Metro Manila’s car-centric traffic apocalypse.

EDSA’s rehab will strain other modes of public transportation, particularly the metropolis’ train system.

For instance, transport officials expect the ridership of the MRT to skyrocket. And they’ve assured that they have plans to make the MRT operations more efficient. Hopefully, they will be up to the task.

On the subject of trains, something drastic needs to be done about the moribund North EDSA common station project.

Hatched in 2011, the North EDSA Common Station was supposed to integrate and connect the LRT-1, MRT-3 and MRT-7.

But 14 years later, it remains unfinished, marred by corruption, gross negligence, design defects, safety issues and budget controversies.

If there’s a better way for this administration to prove its political will, finally finishing the EDSA common station project should be one of them.