Congestion crisis
In a grim future, the cacophony of engines and the suffocating embrace of concrete reign supreme, casting a dark shadow over the once-vibrant landscape. The congestion crisis that plagues the nation has spiraled out of control, leaving chaos and despair in its wake:
Everyday, Filipinos awaken to a world choked by the tendrils of traffic congestion, a problem that has festered and grown unchecked for decades. In a desperate bid to alleviate the strain on overcrowded roads, authorities resort to short-sighted, profit-driven solutions that only serve to exacerbate the crisis.
The streets, once bustling arteries of commerce and community, have become clogged with a never-ending stream of private vehicles, both conventional and electric. Despite feeble attempts at regulation, Filipinos continue to amass fleets of cars, rendering measures like coding restrictions impotent against the relentless tide of congestion. Even the skies, once thought to be a sanctuary from the gridlock below, are now choked with the hum of flying cars, adding yet another layer of chaos to an already overburdened transportation system.
Amidst this sea of metal and concrete, ride-hailing services like Grab, Uber, and Joyride proliferate like weeds, offering a false promise of convenience and safety in a world gone mad. Yet, even as Filipinos flock to these digital lifelines in search of refuge from the chaos below, they unwittingly contribute to the very congestion they seek to escape.
Meanwhile, the once-proud infrastructure projects that promised to usher in a new era of mobility lie in disarray, a testament to the folly of short-sighted planning and political expediency. Bridges to nowhere span rivers choked with debris, while highways lead to dead ends and expressways to nowhere. Attempts to implement sustainable urban planning are met with fierce resistance from the elite few who profit from the status quo, leaving the masses trapped in an endless cycle of congestion and despair.
And as the wheels of progress grind ever onward, the environment bears the brunt of humanity's folly. Trees fall to the relentless march of progress, sacrificed on the altar of convenience, while the air fills with the acrid stench of pollution. In this future, the Philippines stands on the brink of collapse, its once-vibrant cities reduced to sprawling wastelands of concrete and despair.
MMDA to develop another national expressway network
The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) will begin constructing another expressway network for Metro Manila. Dubbed Skyway Junior, this network will occupy an astounding 2,500 hectares and will have a budget of 1 billion pesos. “With this network, we hope to tackle our traffic congestion problem, so that we can assure easier travels for Filipinos,” said MMDA acting chairperson Ronaldo Serrano.
Ride-hailing services like Grab and Move It have rolled out new transportation options: flying cars and hover bikes. If you're really in a rush, you can avail these vehicles at a premium price -- safety be damned.
Selected Quotes
[T]here's this meme in Cavite that there are tons of e-bikes, it's the e-bike capital of the Philippines. And that's funny, because I'm in Cavite right now, and I experience it first hand, seeing hundreds of e-bikes in a single line causing traffic and the people there not necessarily knowing how to drive. This is both a technology issue and a societal issue, driving an e-bike that doesn't require a license, so people just can't do it. That's a problem there. But also, it's because technology has advanced that we were able to create these very fast machines that can be very dangerous, but also be very easy to drive. If not for a technological advancements, these e-bikes would not exist, and the accidents caused by them would not exist. So basically, again, I can imagine the companies manufacturing these, they're in it for the cash, and not necessarily for safety. I can say that they can improve the human experience, because transportation has been more accessible now, but it was cutting corners on other aspects of transportation, which is safety, security, and making sure that you know transportation is a serious thing...being on the road is a serious thing, and this is not to be taken lightly. But these companies do. I can imagine a world where e-bikes are so cheap, everyone has them, they cost so much traffic, and the accidents happen on the daily because of it. So I think you can get the picture when technology advances so far and it becomes so much more accessible, so that's the trend--it becomes more accessible over time, but society has not caught up to it. That's an avenue for disaster.
And [in a pessimistic future of] transportation...well, [we'd have] traffic now both on the ground and in the air, like flying cars and road cars.
Cars will multiply...again, same concept of it being that things still remain the same. But I say that in the sense that...[you see,] the current set-up is [that] public transport doesn't meet the supply for the current demand. But then, at the same time, there are now way more cars, motors, [and] electric vehicles...those other companies still use fossil fuels...whatever. But yeah, there is a continuous rise in the amount of cars, and then the public transport sector still stays the same in terms of number, so they'll really have a hard time.
I think the worst scenario is [that] the Philippines...[doesn't] stop putting band-aid solutions over the issue. We keep building all these bridges, we keep building all these [roads]...the day will come where...there's only so many bridges that you can build. What's that gonna look like 10 years from now, if they keep doing this? Will the Philippines look like a country with...20 skyways, [or] 30 skyways? Like what the hell are we doing?
...So the worst [scenario] is [that the] Philippines keeps doing what they're doing now. They don't put a limit on how many cars people can buy, because even if you have coding, you have two cars, so it doesn't matter.
But at the end of the day, [Grab is] way better because you have tracking, [compared to] traditional taxis here, which are [not regulated] at all.
Yung mid outcome ay same. Same pa din. There will be some compromise, there will be some changes sa urban planning natin para sa mga tao na need ng personal mobility pero super powerful pa rin ang lobbying power ng mga elites na may mga kotse.
[For] transportation...[the] worst-case scenario [is that] it continues to serve individualism more than community. So just in a way, the optimistic [scenario] for me is for more people to take public transport, [and for] public transport in general to be better. The worst-case scenario is making it less accessible, or just trying to make more solutions that won't actually fix the problem.
So I mean, you already have things like Grab and Uber...[and] Joyride...you have all these other [apps] popping up and just adding more and more to [the congestion]...I mean, I'm pretty sure these [companies] know they're not actually solving the real underlying problem. But they're doing it anyway, because that's where the money is.
For transportation...Basically it would be like it is now, but even worse. It would be so expensive to take a Grab. It would be even more car focused, but the roads are badly designed and traffic takes hours and hours just to get places.
So my pessimistic view sa transport leans heavily towards the environemntal aspect, because...[it keeps going]. It'll become much more difficult to go around. The environment will become more damaged.
...[M]y main problem is just the privatization of the solutions...So, for example, instead of fixing [our public transport system], we're just making [apps] like Grab and Uber. Instead of having a unified financial system that you know will work for everybody, we're just gonna make more finance apps, money apps, [etcetera]. Instead of...fixing the standard of education at large, like around around the country, we're just making it more and more [dependent on technology]...I'll just like overlap this for all of [the categories]...the more that technology is used to further an individualistic goal, or...something that is profit-driven, the more we stray away from technology being used to serve us as a society...
[There would be so much] more traffic to the point where we can barely see each other in real life.
