Justice for walkers

Justice for walkers | Daily Tribune

Rehabilitating EDSA’s neglected and treacherous sidewalks ahead of the decrepit, congested roadway itself is a symbolic middle finger raised at impenitent car maniacs.

Or, to put it civilly, a form of mobility justice for an unjust Filipino car-centric prejudice, where pedestrians, commuters and bicyclists are shoved to “get the hell out of the way” so that the cars can go as fast as possible.

All this comes to mind after Transport Secretary Giovanni Lopez and Public Works Secretary Vince Dizon jointly announced last Tuesday the removal of obstructions, the widening and polishing of the uneven sidewalks on EDSA in January.

Unrepentant car maniacs will likely scoff and jeer at the two’s EDSA walkability notice. And, after the duo’s publicized 4.4-kilometer walkabout inspection of EDSA’s sidewalks from Ayala Avenue in Makati City to Roxas Boulevard in Pasay City, they might even lambast them for the laughable gimmickry.

Yet, officially eyeballing sidewalks (or the lack of them) instead of cars is correct, and Dizon explicitly said, “We first see the sidewalks because it cannot be that the focus is always on cars when we talk about roads.”

To graphically illustrate that change of heart is by not exempting the 23.8-kilometer EDSA, the eponymous domain of the car, from being accessible and safe for walkers, bikers, seniors and PWDs.

“It has to begin with walking. All our streets, without exception, have to be walkable,” as one transport expert recently said on how we start averting our slow deaths from vehicular traffic.

In fact, by urgently emphasizing accessible and safe walking, transport experts say, eventually people will be persuaded to change their behavior and beliefs about the car as the only answer to mobility.

This, particularly since relying heavily on the car as the “fastest and comfortable way” to ride out EDSA is now illusory.

No matter how unreliable EDSA’s bus rapid transit system can be or how the MRT can be excoriatingly jampacked, the dedicated buses and the train do make for more people spending less time traveling or commuting, to the seething anger of the solitary, traffic-stuck car owner envious of the dedicated bus lane.

It is understandable, of course, that the lack of good and efficient public transportation, as well as good sidewalks, forces many to be car dependent.

A reality which forces politically conscious administrations to prioritize either expanding current road lanes or building new roads. Characteristically, expanding road capacity in the guise of skyways and overpasses is supposedly a sign of progress.

But more new roads are not sustainable solutions to Metro Manila’s traffic armageddon. This, because of the so-called “induced demand” phenomenon, meaning new roads attract more vehicles, which in turn leads to congestion on the very infrastructure designed to reduce it, like what’s currently happening to the Skyway.

Putting a premium on car-centric infrastructure, therefore, stymies efforts at reorienting people away from car dependency; and stifles belated herculean efforts to have a good public transport system going.

Still, it looks like this administration is trying to undo the car-centric policies and is showing some signs of political will to solve the traffic crisis, despite threats of a backlash from the overly car-centric middle class.

Political will is always a challenge for our politicians. But they have to have it if they’re serious about solving the traffic nightmare, not only in Metro Manila but in other urban areas.

But many still have doubts that the escorted, sirens blaring-loving Filipino pol can’t muster the necessary chops and “courage to slay the traffic monster once and for all.”