Maintaining discipline on the road, both for passengers and drivers, is easier said than done. Sometimes you get to think which should come first: disciplined drivers or disciplined passengers. For instance, if drivers load and unload ONLY in designated places, and not anywhere they please (including in the middle of the road), perhaps passengers will be forced to wait and alight at the designated places (you’ll notice this, for instance, in Hongkong). On the other hand, if passengers wait only in designated bus/jeepney stops, then drivers would hopefully follow. To illustrate:
The passenger, as you can see in the photo above, is waiting at the middle of a Caloocan City road (going to Monumento). In the photo below, the jeepney is unloading passengers in the middle of the road (still in Caloocan, near Monumento), two lanes away from the yellow lane where public utility vehicles (PUVs) are supposed to stay. Note the yellow lane at the right side.
Now, you tell me which should come first? Disciplined drivers or disciplined passengers? Maybe both, and if that’s within the realm of possibility, then traffic will be much better in Metro Manila. (I was tempted to ask who should then enforce road rules? There was a heated battle between the MMDA and local government units as to who should have jurisdiction in enforcing traffic rules. Again, you tell me.)
