Transportation nightmares on MRT: Not getting any better
Recent consecutive glitches in Metro Rail Transit 3 (MRT 3) are all over the news, like when it broke down six times in a day last September and three times during this year's All Saints' Day. These malfunctions caused passengers to walk through train tracks to get to the next station, while others would have to face the very tiring and time-consuming cab rides.
The MRT 3 is one of the most important thoroughfare in the country. It is supposed to be the solution to the traffic woes of daily commuters and cut their travel time to half. But what if the thing that promises comfort to the commuters is also the very thing that will dishearten them?
Then just this month, news of a 24-year-old girl whose arm was cut off when she fell down the tracks at the Ayala station spread and added to the already aflame issues about MRT. In the same week, a few days after the incident, a segment of an MRT train got detached and almost 130 passengers were evacuated by security guards.
What is going on? When will we ever stop falling to this endless cycle of commuter suffering? Of this never-ending problems and promises left for naught? Where are all our taxes going to?
It seems that the government, particularly the Department of Transportation (DOTr), has turned a blind eye on these matters. Their lack of commuting experience and their being given special treatments on the road cause them to overlook these problems.
Maybe these officials need to try at least one day of commuting to understand where the passengers' woes are coming from. How would they feel if they were these people? Now is the time to try to put themselves in other people's shoes.
Senator Grace Poe may be right in saying that these officials should never be satisfied in putting the blame on the previous administration. Really, is that how the system works now? One pride-crushing event and all the fault falls upon the previous administration?
Filipinos do not only need to know who is simply at fault; they deserve to know, to see the solutions to these problems. The DOTr officials have been in position for almost two years now, they must have already done something in that span of time to improve the traffic condition in the country, not just tell excuses and point the blame at others.
Stopping the MRT operations may just not work, considering the fact that it serves 500,000 commuters daily. Trying to do so will at least require an alternative transportation system as compensation but if there is none, then it will lead nowhere; imagine all those commuters competing with one another just to get a ride so they will not be late for school or in their work.
If the government truly wants to reclaim themselves regarding this matter, they should act together. Reclaim themselves by showing a strong determination to improve and provide concrete solutions that will not just simply die down once the issue it serves also dies down. Most importantly, the government should be at the heart of the masses.
It is not unusual to hear them say they want a "better Philippines" during their times; who would not want that, right? What is more important is to see its manifestations in the different issues surrounding the country—the traffic problem in this case.