Bicycle Vs Bus Vs MRT/LRT (Vs Van and Motorcycle): The Daily Ordeal On Metro Manila Streets.

Cesar prepping for the race. He will be using the yellow tiklop bike.

One fine Monday in the heart of August 2015, in the midst of bumper to bumper traffic along EDSA (and presumably, everywhere else), GMA 7 conducted an interesting urban social mobility experiment. In light of heavy, daily traffic that torture the daily car driver, they sought the effectiveness of  other modes of transportation. Pitted against each other were a bicyclist, a bus rider, and a rail transit commuter who will use both the MRT and the LRT. The Start point was Trinoma at the corner of EDSA and North Avenue, QC, with the end point being La Salle Taft. These points were apparently chosen so that the rail commuter will have starting and end points that have stations. The results, while a bit predictable, the events that unfolded were certainly eye openers to the state of urban mobility that is thrust upon us.

Attaching the GoPro camera on the handlebars

The bike rider is Cesar Platon, a member of the Tiklop Society of the Philippines, a prominent local bike advocacy group. Cesar is a very experienced urban rider, with great endurance and road skills. An unfair match at first glance, but I believe that the other competitors (I didn't catch their names) are adept in what they do - both were armed with books and audio players to keep themselves busy while commuting! The route of the biker was pre-determined, he had to ride along EDSA from Trinoma to Guadalupe, then turn right at JP Rizal Avenue, Makati, towards La Salle. It would be much easier for the cyclist to take a more direct route though, and end up with a much better time. But such are the imposed terms.

Presenting, the contestants! Bike vs Bus vs MRT/LRT

At 8 am, they were off. Before 9 am, Cesar arrived at La Salle Taft, it took him all of 58 minutes. At this point, the train rider just got her ticket at the counter at Trinoma, while the bus commuter was reading a book on a bus stuck somewhere on EDSA at the Ortigas area. While this is technically a race between three modes of transport, there is a unintentional competitor - a private vehicle. The GMA7 support van planned to race to La Salle Taft after launching the 3 competitors. They got stuck in traffic, wallowing in the Kamuning QC area at about the same time Cesar arrived at La Salle.


A Synopsis of the Race Results:

The bike route.

First Place: Bike Commuter, 58 minutes. Cesar took the imposed route at EDSA to Guadalupe, turning right towards La Salle Taft. Had he taken a more direct route, he would have arrived much earlier. One would wonder though, would a motorcycle be faster? Cesar had a camera team on a motorcycle that shadowed him, or tried to. The crew got left behind at EDSA, unable to keep up because the bike was able to squeeze between cars while the motorcycle got jammed because of its wider handlebars. 


Second Place: MRT/LRT Commuter, 2 1/2 hours - The MRT and LRT trains are swift vehicles and can traverse huge urban distances in minutes, being elevated from the chaotic traffic of the Metro. The problem is getting on the train, which is part of the game. One has to fall in line outside of the station in order to get in, and on weekday mornings it is a long queue that snakes this way and that on the sidewalk, which worms up the stairs and into the station itself.Then you have to get into another line to get a ticket, and then you have to endure another line on the platform to get onto the train. This has to be repeated twice, for the MRT, and the LRT. Mind numbing!

Third Place: Bus Rider, 3 hours - Initially, riding a bus looks promising. There are lots of buses plying the EDSA route, and getting on one is relatively easy and fast. the problem is that these buses get stuck in traffic at jammed intersections at Kamias/Kamuning, Cubao, Shaw Boulevard, to name a few. The problem at these intersections are the buses themselves, as they block each other as they jockey for position in the quest for more passengers. Inside the bus though, one can be comfortable and do office work or read a book. After all the journey is several hours.

Honorable Mention, Sort of: As mentioned earlier, a GMA7 van carrying support crew got stuck at Kamuning, less than a fourth of the way, at the time the bike rider reached the destination. Also, a motorcycle with a camera crew got left behind at EDSA, unable to squeeze through heavy traffic.

Interestingly, walking from Trinoma to La Salle would be faster than taking the bus or MRT/LRT

So what can we conclude from all this? Our traffic situation here in Metro manila is a monumental mess. It is clear that we need an efficient means of public transport, such as bigger trains that are reliable. A Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system. which is basically similar to the LRT but uses buses running on a dedicated path on ground level will do the trick, in conjunction with the existing LRT and MRT. A more efficient ticketing system and higher frequency of train trips will lessen waiting time. Clearly, traffic enforcement to keep unruly buses and other public utility vehicles in line should be done as well.


In the meantime, for those who have the skill and will to do it, biking in Metro Manila remains a viable option. Believe me, it is actually easier than it looks, with the right gear and mindset. Just hook up with an experienced commuter or a good bike group, take it slow, and soon you will see the Zen of the urban bike flow. Biking in the city is not to be frightened of - it is exhilarating, efficient, and earth friendly. It is nirvana in the chaotic city streets. Whatever mode of transport you take, be patient, be safe, and be courteous to each other. We are all just trying to get where we need to go.




This 'race',  along with some interviews and commentary was shown last August 27 at GMA7 News Live (cable channel), The show is Investigative Documentaries, and the episode is "Transpoortasyon".

The Case of the Missing Nalgene Bottle

I have a thing about water containers, and when I lost one, I couldn't stop thinking about it. This 1.4 liter Nalgene bottle was lost when I helped facilitate the 2015 UP Mountaineers Skills Test at Sandugo Basecamp at Pintong Bocaue, Rizal last late November 2015. It is one of my favorite vessels as it is large and has a large mouth, which makes it easier to drop in ice cubes for a refreshing drink. For the life of me, I couldn't find it anywhere, not in my bags, not at camp, not at the car, though I swore that I brought it along with me. When I went home after the activity, I looked for it everywhere - I am a bit obsessed with this kind of stuff - but it was nowhere to be found.. So I just curled up into a fetal position and resigned myself to losing a great water bottle.

A couple of days ago, I went back to Pintong Bocaue, this time to get some Marang (a cousin of the Guyabano) seedlings. On a whim I went to the sari sari store in front of Basecamp and asked the woman inside if she saw a Nalgene bottle that was this big and so and so, describing the errant container as best as I could hoping that it would somehow materialize ..... and the lady just cut me short and said, wait, it's here. She went to her house at the back and emerged later with my bottle, which was clean and dry. She said she was waiting for someone to claim it. And it all rushed back to me now - I went to the store when we arrived Saturday morning, where I planned to buy a liter of soda and pour the contents into the bottle. Instead I decided to get three liters, and somehow left the Nalgene bottle on that little store window when I carried the three soda bottles. Man, i am getting old, and this memory lapse just proves it.

But thank God for honest people. Aling Sara, mabuhay ka! May your tribe increase, and may your store prosper. Whenever I go back to Pintong Bocaue, by bike or car, i will stop by your place and purchase everything in sight!