By Dean Aubrey Caratiquet
Multiple transfers, long queues, and having to push and shove your way through the crowd just to board the bus—but also having to go around the front of the vehicle just to board from its right-side door.
This is the routine dilemma faced by commuters who board from any of the 24 stations of the EDSA Carousel, especially at major hubs such as Balintawak, SM North, Main Avenue, and Ortigas, to name a few.
To resolve this longstanding issue, the Department of Transportation (DOTr) ordered bus operators running units that ply the Busway to implement the left-side door policy within six months.
In an inspection on Wednesday, Transportation Secretary Giovanni Lopez shared that out of the approximately 500 units serving this route, fewer than 200 are equipped with left-side doors that facilitate easier ingress and egress of passengers.
“Importante po kasi [ito] para sa kaligtasan po ng ating mga mananakay, para hindi na ho kailangan umikot pa, para kapag dito mismo sa istasyon ay didiretso na lang po. Usually po kasi, kapag walang left side door, iikot pa sila at napaka-delikado ho non kahit may barrier.”
Akin to other left-hand drive countries, buses in the Philippines typically have doors on their right side to facilitate passengers embarking and disembarking from terminals and pick-up points along the roadside.
The introduction of EDSA Carousel was inspired by other countries that made use of a segregated innermost lane in the deployment of a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) System—which completely breaks the norm and saw many low-floor buses only equipped with right-side doors, accounting for the majority of units serving the riding public.
Secretary Lopez underscored the need to make this long-overdue adaptation mandatory, “Hindi na po tayo magbibigay pa ng palugit diyan at saka extension. Matagal na po tayong nagbibigay ng moratorium diyan. This time, in six months, lahat po sana ng ating mga buses na bumabaybay sa busway station, dapat may left-side door.”
Improvements for the riding public
Earlier, the Transportation Chief also inspected the revamped EDSA Busway Monumento Station—now equipped with a new LED station information guide and fare matrix, tactile paving, wayfinding signs, and reinforced railings.
The improvements provide commuters embarking and disembarking from the northern endpoint of the EDSA Carousel with a wider and more modern facility, consistent with President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s mandate of making the stations more accessible and up-to-date.
Secretary Lopez shared upcoming improvements in the pipeline, “Maglalagay tayo ng mga portalet sa iba’t ibang Busway stations natin para sa mga matatanda, lalo na po yung mga PWD, at saka sa lahat po ng gumagamit ng ating Busway station[s], para may palikuran po sila.”
Apart from the enhancements made to the 230-meter station, the DOTr is also focused on fixing non-functional elevators and is likewise eyeing the implementation of an Automated Fare Collection System (AFCS) on EDSA Busway before year-end, obligating bus operators to deploy cashless payment options like stored value cards and e-wallets.
As of press time, commuters riding on LRT-2 and MRT-3 benefit from AFCS, which allows them to pay using Beep Card, credit and debit cards, e-wallet, QR Code, and NFC-enabled devices.(with report from JM Thompson | PTV News)
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