inDrive Is Reimagining Vehicle and Commuter Movement in EDSA (and Beyond)

With the Imminent EDSA Rehabilitation Program, What's Next for TNVS Drivers?

- By Jelou Galang

In 2018, a woman gave birth while stuck in the EDSA traffic jam. But this isn't the only unhinged story involving the infamous major road. Some are shared in personal spaces; when an employee apologizes for coming in late despite waking up early, or a friend complains about their three-hour travel time on a Friday night out. With the Epifanio de los Santos Avenue covering six cities in Metro Manila, Filipinos are tethered to it despite the inconvenience.

While it's been a running gag that people can age up while in EDSA's sea of rush hour red lights, this collective experience reflects citizens' deteriorating quality of life. As a matter of fact, over 400,000 vehicles travel through the thoroughfare when it can only hold up to approximately 300,000, according to the Metro Manila Development Authority.

Apart from overcapacity, criticisms that surround the quintessential EDSA experience include a lack of proper commuter-friendly infrastructure and poor traffic management, among others. So when the EDSA rehabilitation program was unveiled, motorists and commuters wondered if this would end their suffering.

John Louie Balagot, country public policy and government affairs manager of inDrive Philippines, is one of those hopeful it'll pave the way for "real transformation"—and this means not leaving commuters behind.

"We must ask questions like: How will this affect the number of rides that a TNVS driver or a delivery rider can complete every day? Or how much will this affect the expenditure of a minimum-wage earner who, instead of riding just one bus going to work, now has to make two to three cutting trips? This can't just be a roadworks project—it must be a mobility rethink," he tells The Philippine STAR.