If there was a ‘dumb ideas’ contest, Grace Poe would win
Credit to Author: BEN KRITZ, TMT| Date: Mon, 07 Oct 2019 16:34:53 +0000
SENATOR Grace Poe is the perfect example of why people who have no more knowledge of mass transit other than that it is “a thing that exists” should not be allowed to help formulate, or for that matter, even casually comment on transportation policy.
During a Senate hearing last week on the Department of Transportation’s (DoTr) budget for 2020, Poe, who once rode the metro rail transit (MRT) and therefore considers herself well-versed, made the suggestion that a portion of each train could be restyled as “business class.” This, she said, would encourage car commuters to use the train instead, thereby helping to decongest Edsa.
Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade, who is not above being distracted by heterodox ideas, didn’t exactly reject Poe’s ridiculous suggestion, but said it was something that the DoTr could only look at once Sumitomo completes its rehabilitation of the MRT-3, which may or may not happen before the heat death of the universe.
Although the details were unsurprisingly a little vague considering their source, a “business class” MRT service would apparently offer dedicated ticket windows and boarding lines for discerning travelers, and separate coaches with comfortable seating, functioning air-conditioning, and far less hair wax residue on the inner surfaces of the windows than the cars left to ordinary peons. The fare for this upgraded commuting experience could be as high P200 to P300, Poe suggested, compared with the P28 current fare for an end-to-end ride.
Poe was quickly subjected to well-deserved mockery from the public for her suggestion, and it would probably not be worth analyzing in any serious way except that it is symptomatic of how flawed the entire approach to reducing Metro Manila’s traffic congestion is.
In terms of the idea itself, it is a complete non-starter. Most of the 13 stations along the MRT-3 line are poorly designed and insufficient in space for the existing passenger traffic, and would have to be comprehensively remodeled in order to provide proper segregation of “business class” and ordinary passengers, if the ten times higher fare is to be justified.
Retooling the trains to accommodate a “business class” service would drastically cut the passenger-carrying capacity of the system. Under ideal conditions, the MRT-3 trains – both the existing older version and the yet-to-be-seen newer Chinese-built trains – have a rated capacity of 1,600 people, about 80 seated and 320 standing in each of four cars. In current practice, of course, the trains only run in three-car sets, and are crammed with more people than they can actually safely carry. No “business class” passenger is going to pay P200 for a standing ride, so the one car per four-car train reserved for “business class” service is going to have to provide seating for everyone, which would cut down its capacity; with modifications, a car converted to “business class” could probably made to accommodate 200 passengers, or half of its original capacity. Regardless of the actual number, since it is a safe assumption that existing MRT-3 riders will not be the ones occupying those “business class” seats, the service effectively reduces the line’s capacity by 12.5 percent. At the same time, if Poe’s plan actually worked, ridership would increase by 12.5 percent due to the new “business class” patrons; these would be accommodated in their own special fancy train cars, but the overall stress on the system would increase.
Most of the criticism directed at Poe accused of her of “elitism”; rather than investing in a service priced well above what ordinary commuters could afford, why not make the same investment toward improving the capacity and the reliability of the entire system? That’s a fair enough question, but that’s not actually the worst thing about the “business class” idea. The worst part of the idea, something it has in common with virtually every other idea that has ever been proposed to reduce congestion, is that it is a one-off, disconnected solution that disregards any necessity to fit into a system. For prospective “business class” passengers whose homes and destinations do not lie within easy walking distance of an MRT station, for example, what sort of connecting transport options of a reasonably similar level of comfort and convenience would be available?
The idea also reveals a gross misunderstanding of public perceptions of mass transit. The simple fact is that, unlike a lot of other cities around the world, it is possible in and around Metro Manila to travel between any two points, door-to-door, using only public transportation, 24 hours a day. People who live and work here do not lack options, but they buy cars to escape the necessity of using public transportation because almost every strand in the city’s vast transit web is slow, uncomfortable, dirty and unsafe. Improving one small part of one strand is not going to inspire those people to give up their cars. As a matter of fact, as many people that could be convinced to leave their own vehicles at home and patronize Poe’s “business class” MRT-3 trains might simply be replaced on the roads by a like number of former MRT-3 riders who decide the increased crowding of stations and trains caused by Poe’s brilliant idea is the last straw, and redouble their efforts to save up to buy a car.
The only real solution to decongesting Manila, as more people are gradually realizing, is to actually decongest it – reduce its economic and social mass, which are far too great for the space available. Any ideas, even ones that sound a lot less ridiculous than Grace Poe’s “business class,” that do not work toward that end will at best only shift the problem from one area to another.
ben.kritz@manilatimes.net
Twitter: @benkritz