By Erika Tapalla
INQUIRER.net
Apart from the congested traffic during the daily rush hours, a normal sight along Katipunan Avenue in Quezon City would be the colorful tricycles that quickly traverse down the streets against monstrous trucks, missing nearby vehicles by mere inches.
But the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) has banned tricycles from the area, drawing complaints from transport operators, students and residents.
The MMDA has claimed that they only did this to ease traffic in the area.
In the video below, INQUIRER.net multimedia reporter Izah Morales went to Katipunan to find out what people in the area think of this issue.
But what do you think? Tell us how you feel about this issue! Send us a video. We invite our viewers to send video on what you think about this issue. Grab a camera, have someone film you and speak your mind — this is your chance to be both seen and heard. Video clips should not be more than 1 minute long. Send video to http://dropbox.yousendit.com/inquirerbox. In the message field, please indicate the names of the people in the video, names of people who took the video, and the place where the video was taken.
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September 29th, 2008 at 1:42 pm
After living along Katipunan for many years, my 2 cent worth comments
1. The tricyles overchraged and was never regulated. They complained about high prices of fuel. But do the math! If they have 4-stroke engines compare to 2-stokes, they will save a lot. How many kilometers can one liter of gasoline can go for a trycyle for them to charge that much, Php 16.00 (minimum charge). Lastly, If Php 16.00 is the minimum charge for 3km, how far is Mini-stop to Upper Abada and Php 25.oo to Ateneo Campus? tsk..tsk.. What can we do, they never pass their basic arithmetic.
2. Tricyles in katipunan should be banned. They are notorious and it is very dangerous when you are along the highway and two 18-wheeler trucks on your both sides. Who among the tricylce driver/operators had their tricylce insured? Can they even afford your hospital bills if something bad happens?
3. Lastly, I think tricyle associations are handled by big politicians who are after their ***king votes. They don’t have discipline and why would they always blackmail us with their poverty stories? They should be happy they are not paying any taxes and yet rip the fruits of public services. But, the greatest problem is: people from my beloved school in Ateneo and our good neighbor Mirriam and UP tolerate this misguided attitudes of these so called “poor” but undisciplined tricyle drivers.
September 12th, 2008 at 1:43 am
[...] you’re from this area, you should check this post from Vox Populi Apart from the congested traffic during the daily rush hours, a normal sight along Katipunan Avenue [...]
August 31st, 2008 at 11:16 pm
yes, tricycles should be banned in the Katipunan. they overcharge.
August 27th, 2008 at 11:06 pm
Why do we allow a self-styled expert to carry out experiments with our road traffic? Crazy experiments that endanger the lives of every motorists in Manila?
Shutting down important intersections, rendering the traffic lights useless and opening up so-called U-Turn Slots. Did this lunatic expert ever test-drive each and every U-turn Slot at peak or rush hours? Methinks he just let a group of morons and affiliated contractors decide the number and locations of the U-turn Slots and start digging merrily every day of the year.
The common objectionable observations on the present traffic conditions are:
1. The U-turn Slots occupies almost two lanes on each side of a boulevard, thereby narrowing that section of the road for through traffic, creating a bottle-neck in an otherwise smooth flowing thoroughfare. The effective width of the boulevard is reduced by almost four lanes ( two lanes per side).
2. Unlike when crossing an intersection or making a left-turn, U-turns can only be executed at the lowest speed. Therefore, at busy thoroughfares and rush hours, it is usual to see long queues jamming the U-Turn Slots and traffic spilling over to the adjacent lanes.
3. It is absolutely impossible for two vehicles to simultaneously make the U-turn when one of them is a bus or a long vehicle.
4. When an accident occurs at a U-Turn Slot, the traffic jam that it creates is beyond imagination.
5. With the absence of traffic lights at intersections, the pedestrians find it impossible to cross the streets with the non-stopping traffic flow.
6. The pedestrians are also confused by the absence of traffic lights or malfunctioning traffic lights. The end result is every pedestrian crosses at his own risk, nobody cares whether that crazy traffic light is PINK or BLUE.
7. It is also common to see jeepneys stopping at the exit of a U-turn Slot waiting to cut across to the right opposite curb for passenger pick-ups. This not only obstructs the U-turn traffic flow but poses a danger to the oncoming vehicles.
8. Those dirty concrete pylons that divide the U-turn Slots or shut off the intersections do not have early warning signs; they are deadly hazards to motorists during night driving.
9. Assuming that the waiting time at an intersection and an U-turn Slot are equal, the time and fuel consumed in crossing the intersection is definitely less than making a series of right turns and a slow U-turn. We must remember that instead of making a simple left-turn, we must now make a right-turn followed by an u-turn. Instead of crossing an intersection, we have to make a right-turn, an u-turn and then another right-turn; and this ignoramus is telling us that more fuel is saved by U-turn Slots.
10. The uneven wearing out of the left and right tires, including the steering linkages in U-turns is extremely severe. All these will show up in your motor vehicle maintenance costs.
For many years, the MMDA head thought that he could easily discipline the unruly drivers of jeepneys, buses and FXs; but now, he realized his miserable failure and is resorting to methods used in cattle and animal control, i.e., the use of fences, railings, concrete dividers and all kinds of crazy obstacles painted in crazy colors. If only God permits, he may even resort to setting up electrified fences to electrocute the commuters that try to stray into the middle of the roads.
This not the right way to educate or discipline the public and the utility motor drivers. Only wise men know how to educate the masses; fools use brute force..
Our only consolation is that Manila will be known internationally as the city where vehicular traffic is controlled solely by U-turn Slots.
August 27th, 2008 at 3:44 pm
chi….that was during our time, when walking is the norm, and we carried our own bags too. now, spoiled students go to school via suv cars, their bags carried by yayas, but look at them now, Obese! and too lazy to use the overpass and WALK even!
ino….you are right, Ateneo should solve this problem.