SCMAP Perspective is our fortnightly column on PortCalls, tackling the latest developments in the supply chain industry, as well as updates from within SCMAP. On this column, Henrik Batallones reimagines EDSA as it is set to undergo a two-year “rebuild”.
Reimagining EDSA
By the time you read this column, a lot has been said about the newly-emerged plans to rehabilitate EDSA, or in this government’s words, “rebuild” it. Well, much has been said about the schemes to manage traffic as the metro’s major thoroughfare undergoes some work, and also, the impact of the two-year project on commutes and on logistics. That one, of course, is of particular interest, considering how many media requests I’ve arranged (and in one case, appeared in) in the past week.
Let’s recap anyway. The EDSA rehabilitation will have an impact on logistics costs, due to travel delays and higher fuel and employee costs, and perhaps due to late penalties imposed by retailers as well. There will be an impact on the availability of products on shelves, and more importantly, on the cost of goods. Perhaps it’s minimal, as the disruption will ultimately not be as massive as the one we saw during the early days of the pandemic, for example. But with Filipinos still grappling with the rising cost of living, this will be an added pain, whether they be in Metro Manila or outside of it.
But we’re not saying do not go ahead with it. Absolutely not – we think the rehabilitation should continue. Resilient supply chains rely on resilient transportation networks and infrastructure, and the proposed works on EDSA is a long-needed intervention. (One hopes action on these things would happen sooner, as we’re seeing in the case of the San Juanico Bridge suddenly being closed, disrupting the movement of goods in Eastern Visayas.) But the government should provide the public – commuters, businesses, laborers, everyone – with detailed and comprehensive information on how they will proceed with the ”rebuild”. This allows everyone to plan earlier, and plan better. For businesses, this means enough time to make informed decisions on alternate routes, distribution networks, and perhaps collaborations with competitors and partners alike to ensure service and cost expectations are made.
But first, we wait for two years. (And I hope we only wait for two years, if not less. Government should bear all their deadlines.) For now, let me take a different tactic and imagine what EDSA could be at the end of all this.
Okay, it won’t be perfect. I won’t go far and present a utopian version of the country’s most notorious – historically and otherwise – highway. I’ll just go with the ideal presented by the government’s own National Transport Policy: an emphasis on mass forms of transport, as well as active transport. This means that, alongside cars, there will be robust systems of public transport, as well as safe options for bikers and pedestrians.
We already have the MRT, and in the last few years it has been complemented by the EDSA Busway, a pandemic-era solution to a pre-pandemic era issue. It’s good to see the system having developed, but it’s about time we make it more user-friendly. And I’m not just thinking of making the facilities more accessible to PWDs and senior citizens, for example. In live along EDSA, and the nearest bus stop either side of me is a twenty-minute walk away, so pretty much impractical. Why not build more stops, perhaps ones that are independent of MRT stations, so that it becomes a more viable option for more commuters, rather than just a mirror of the train line?
In the last week the Move As One Coalition walked the entire 22-kilometer stretch to advocate for safer and more pedestrian-friendly spaces in the rebuilt EDSA. I make the same call. I may live along EDSA, but it doesn’t mean I want to drive every time. Unfortunately, uneven (and sometimes non-existent) sidewalks, coupled with the inhumane heat – almost certainly down to our development choices rather than our geography – means walking to do minor errands is not practical nor comfortable, whether on EDSA or almost everywhere else in Metro Manila. Well, unless you live in one of those “master-planned communities” that always come with a huge price tag and locks the rest of society out. We need more walkable sidewalks – and I’m not thinking of the proposed “EDSA Greenway” elevated walkway system, because that just divides everything up unnecessarily.
This call also goes for bikers. People still take it up despite the end of the pandemic, both for fitness purposes and to reduce their carbon footprint. But along EDSA, bike lanes are an afterthought: just a lane carved out of the outermost lane for cars, which leaves drivers in an awkward position when they’re trying to not hurt anyone. And in any case, that lane’s used by motorcycles anyway, and let’s be honest – they don’t stop in intersections when you’re trying to turn. Maybe that’s something for the No Contact Apprehension Program to help address?
For better or worse, we have turned EDSA into the defining benchmark of the state of traffic in Metro Manila, and therefore, the state of progress in the Philippines. I never understood why authorities insist an increase in speed on one highway is illustrative of the whole of Metro Manila. But here’s an opportunity to transform EDSA into a model highway, one that fully embraces the vision of the National Transport Policy. Of course, that comes with a catch: what we imagine should be done with EDSA should be done on every other major thoroughfare in Metro Manila. And we all just want to get home after a long day. It’s no surprise we are impatient about this before a single jackhammer has been turned on.