NU12 by Rachel Roque - Improvement of Southwest Bus Terminal

Hi Sir,

Here's my 2nd  NU12 Topic: What pisses you off at the neighborhood? What do you suggest?

I believed in mass transportation: I think it's cheaper & produces less traffic thus, less pollution. And since I'm alone, I just commute everyday going to work instead of bringing my own car. I live in Cavite & everything was fine then, until MMDA implemented the Southwest bus terminal last month. And I don't think it's the best solution; it may eased the traffic in some part of Metro Manila, but worsen traffic in areas near the terminal. So, it really didn't solve the problem, it just transferred it. In addition, it caused the passengers an additional travel time of almost 1 hour, and 30-50% daily fare increased. In my opinion, the following steps can rather be a better alternative:

1. Conduct a thorough study on the no. of passengers, location & time of travel. Then, limit LTFRB's franchise to no. of buses just enough to accommodate the passengers. It can be observed that some buses are not full most of the time, which means that their number is too much than what is really needed. With this, bus drivers tend to compete in getting the passengers that make them violate traffic rules, and even cause accidents.
2. Check condition of buses; some of the buses are very old and are black smoke belcher resulting to more air pollution. Old buses also have higher tendency to breakdown while in travel, that cause disruption to passengers & road blockage to other cars.  
3. Create a special Toll E-pass that will be only issued to buses with license. This is to stop "colorum"/illegal buses to travel; if they don't have E-pass, they can't pass though the toll gate in coastal road & can't travel to Metro Manila.
4. Assign designated loading & unloading areas, like those in Makati, that are strategically located. This is to avoid buses to just stop anywhere.

But if MMDA will really stick with the centralized bus terminal, I'll just suggest the following to improve the system:

1. Destroy the Uniwide Mall to widen the terminal area, or create a 2^nd floor, or relocate the terminal to bigger space. The existing terminal seems not enough to accommodate both the provincial & city buses.
2. Revise layout of the terminal, separating entrance & exit for provincial & city buses. Current set-up causes traffic within the terminal; it took around 30mins just for the bus to enter or exit.
3. Ensure enough no. of city buses with the passengers from provincial buses.
4. Have a bus that will go directly to City hall, Intramuros, U-belt areas for students. I think they are the most affected ones because they have to ride another bus or jeepney again after riding the city bus from the terminal.
5. Improve ventilation within the terminal, install exhaust fan.
6. Improve security. I don't see security checks as of the moment, which makes the area vulnerable to crimes and worst, rebel & terrorist attacks.

P.S. I don't think there's really a need for facilities such as large screen TVs & playground for the kids because I think the travelers in this area are not like those typical travelers from/to other provinces that stay in the terminal. Travelers from Cavite are usually workers and students that want to get to work/school or go home as soon as possible, they just get off from one bus to another as quickly as possible without needing to stay in the terminal.  

Regards,

Rachelle Irene Roque  3.5

SPENTREP-S10