cars vs. brt
(V.O.: ...and now we return you to our regular programming.)
I've illustrated this before, but if you need more convincing, try this very short video by Carlos Pardo of the Sustainable Urban Transport Project. (Via Richard Layman's Rebuilding Place in Urban Space.)
Seen it? Like it? Share it by emailing this link.
Ready to come up with the standard excuses of why this can't work in Metro Manila? Go ahead, throw them at me.
Btw, notice how you can fit a BRT on to an 8 lane road?
15 comments:
Ah ok well you asked for it , you gets it, here it is, hit you with my best shat!
10 reasons why BRT is unnatural to MetroManileno's:
1) BRT is how BaRaT is spelled in a cell phone;
2) You can not make the BaRaT stop anytime , anywhere;
3) You can not make sabit sabit to the BaRaT;
4) People who spend money on skin whitening cream will complain because the sun will actually shine through the lack of smog (eh di napamahal pa sila, pambihira);
5) A BaRat has only one cab which is for the women, there is no other second/third car for the rest of people who comprise 90% of the riders (includes men, badafs, and women who do not read signs);
6) That's way too many passengers for a driver to put their change in his ear;
7) Bigtu Bigtu lamig, peanut, quail eggs, and steamed corn vendors will experience drop in sales because of
lack of access (not democratic since it's too fast to run after the change);
8) A 100 foot long riot of colors design with pictures of JhunJhun, Mhel, Thiny and slogans of Katas ng Dubai, Katas ng Milan and Hudas not pay is about 80 feet too long for public transport;
9) You can not take BaRat to Motel for lunch time nookie nookie;
10) It is far to sensible to make sense for the gov't of rich, for the rich and by the rich. (Anything that makes sense can't be right)
first question: will bart co-exist with the current private bus businesses in the Manila? baka magwala si claire de la fuente? how do you propose it will work with the current bus system. i see BRT as a bus-replacement.
Is anybody in the DOTC, Congress, Senate, Malacanan listening?
What is your proposed livelihood to the whole economy based on the boundary system that will be affected by a BRT line? From the barkers, food vendors, conductors, drivers up to the operators?
I sure would like to see this in Metro Manila one day, but from the way things are going, the MRT/LRT-4 might be constructed first. Maybe if a pilot is constructed first in Cebu or Davao, people in Manila would start to study the concept.
Has anyone done an extensive study of a BRT in Metro Manila, similar to an LRT/MRT proposal?
Isn't Bayani Fernando aware of the BRT. He claims to have sped the average speed of traffic in EDSA by 10Kph.
(my apologies for the late reply)
Peter,
BaRat could cut two-ways. you could sell BaRat as the ukay-ukay of public transport. Good value for less.
as to lunch time nookies - wala talo. the brt can run lines into the motels. (of course, you could build motels right next to the brt station.)
Marky,
No. BRT should replace the existing bus system -on certain routes.
You get the existing operators to bid to run the buses. I think the ratio in Mexico City's MetroBus is 70 to 30. With 70% of service run by the bus operators -who now become more solid corporations.
Michael, and Marky, too.
Again, the examples from Mexico and Indonesia -the bus drivers who used to get paid on boundary become drivers paid on salary. by operators and cooperatives who bid to run the buses.
As to the informal jobs, pwede ka pa rin naman magtinda ng mani next to the brt station.
"Is anybody in the DOTC, Congress, Senate, Malacanan listening?"
ah, there's the rub.
The bigger question is: is anybody in Manila reading this blog at all?
How can government bid out the routes with no resistance from the bus operators? For example, lets assume government will try this system along commonwealth avenue: from quezon city circle to SM fairview. That means that bus lines that have a franchise to this route will lose their business. I can imagine the government can simply decline renewal of franchises. but how will government pay the bus companies for the loss of business? im sure there will be a lot of restraining orders from the courts so its better to clarify how to minimize legal impediments too.
I really think BRT is cool... here's what I imagine the commonwealth route will look like (just started) http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&ll=14.65999,121.069937&spn=0.0372,0.080338&t=k&z=14&om=1&msid=104404339105744166428.0004413a27413586a9228
But another major issues is that for it to be effective, stops should be well spaced. and i guess for those who dont want to walk, thats where pedicabs kick in as I read in one of the posts here.
The bigger question is: is anybody in Manila reading this blog at all?
I'm from Manila hehe, I stumbled on your blog through MLQIII. Maybe you sould SEO your blog for keywords like 'traffic, manila, mrt'
Before I thought that trains were the best urban transport system before I read about BRT in your blog.
There's start of talk already about BRT in skyscrapercity. http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=137806&page=27
hehe eh those skyscrapercity posts are mine and they refer to here!
which actually addresses the question of anyone listening (with their eyes!) of course, not only me but other people who can and do make a difference (lonely candles in the night notwithstanding!)
anyway i understand the prefeasibility for the brt study is done and am looking for a copy, am curious what it says. i'm sure the system works the hard part is the switch over as marky has pointed out since the change in the riders habits and the displacement of the bus companies needs to be addressed. i'm curious if they decide to just try to experiment with the commonwealth route (fairview to edsa) instead of a rail line. should be easily viable with not much changes needed, wide roads, not much buses yet, mostly cars, be perfect to connect to quezon ave station.
so lunchtime nookie nookie notwithstanding (in fact Sogo group has obliged by putting their walk in motels near high pedestrian traffic areas near stops and why yes peoples habits and compunctions have changed that love motels don't need a hideaway drivethru parking area, better than the elevators and stairwells kids in call centers nowadays are using, que horror, hehe)
Marky,
How can government bid out the routes with no resistance from the bus operators?...That means that bus lines that have a franchise to this route will lose their business...but how will government pay the bus companies for the loss of business?
Well, how does the government handle the buses when it wants to put in a light rail line? That takes away from their business, too -with no chance of the operators or drivers participating in the mega infra venture. Handled correctly, BRT will allow the existing operators (and drivers -if they form cooperatives) to bid for the service contracts.
Where an MRT/LRT project is limited to the big investors (who, by the way, must be guaranteed by sovereign risk), a BRT system will allow SMEs to move up the corporate profit ladder.
But this does require political will and a political approach (and that's politics with a small p).
I think this (how to get coalition to line up behind BRT) deserves its own post.
Marky,
nice map. why'd you stop it at ever gotesco? the motherlode of passengers is all the way to lagro.
this was my take on possible BRT routes in QC.
peter, michael,
thanks for the skyscraper city discussions. amen to sustainable mobility.
Michael,
SEO - maybe i'll get around to it. It's tough enough getting regular posts going.
Peter,
would love a copy of that feasibility study if you do get your hands on it.
hey, wait a minute. why are you so up to date with the location decisions of the quickie set?
UDC
this is more of a political question: can local government implement this without the national government? For example, Quezon City for the Commonwealth BRT route?
who manages the "national roads" in metro manila such as EDSA and the commonwealth? the republic, the cities where they are located or the MMDA?
if it can be done at the city level, would be easier i guess to push for it politics-wise.
aHHH Am a student of the human condition...
Big Roads like EDSA and Commmonwealth are handled by MMDA, of course as pointed out the tricky ones will be those which traverse several municipal (oops city na pala mga to) like C5 which passes Taguit, makati, Pateros ?, pasig, qc
You don't even need the city gov't to screw this up. MMDA is trying to get all provincial bus companies to go to not pass through EDSA and pick up passengers, they can only go to one of 2 provincial bus terminals but the private bus companies sued and won respite, expect the same in implementing BRT
Marky,
As I understand it, Commonwealth Avenue is a "national road" and the DPWH and the DOTC are responsible for the control and maintenance of those roads.
The MMDA has the traffic authority in the national roads in MM -but even that can be vetoed by the local government.
Peter,
I'd expect the bus operators to resist -that's why the key will be to build a political coalition that will win the policy war before it even gets to the courts.
which will be the stuff of my next (pending) post.
("student of the human condition" -yeah, sure.)
What the heck, you can't fit 160 people onto a bus.
Yes, you can.
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