The chaotic traffic in Metro Manila is a waste of time!

Being a Balikbayan, one of the frustrations facing visitors like me from abroad is the massive and chaotic traffic in  Metro Manila and its neighbouring cities. It’s a big waste of time and productivity.

Although I have seen many traffic enforcers doing their best to keep the streets orderly, this traffic problem should be studied thoroughly to ease our countrymen’s difficulties.

The main problem is the sheer volume of vehicles on the road, mainly traversing these narrow roads. Well, there are those skyways above those streets, but just the same, most people would instead use these roads to avoid paying those tolls at the skyways.

Furthermore, when one exits the skyways, he eventually joins the traffic waiting for him on these streets.

Oh, those thousands of motorbikes roaming these streets. They can do anything while driving on those streets, like cutting down vehicles, moving through all available space in the street, or snaking through these traffic jams. They are always on the go, unmindful of these traffic dangers.

On my planned visit to the country, I considered visiting as many friends as possible, but I could not because of the enormous traffic problem. Just visiting one or two friends was enough to occupy my day. Most of the time, a cab I was riding in would get stuck for hours in the traffic, with those bumper-to-bumper rows of vehicles slowly moving down these narrow roads.

 No amount of thorough study could solve the snarled traffic jam simply because so many vehicles—cars, trucks, motorbikes, E-bikes, jeepneys, taxis, assembled jeepneys, or any contractions for as long as they have wheels—can be seen roaring these streets.

At one time, when I took a Grab vehicle, I had a chance to chat with a woman driver, and I asked her during her 12 working hours, from 5 a.m. to 5 p.m., how many clients she could have that span of hours.

 She said there were only eight passengers because of the traffic, so while waiting for the passengers’ call, I would typically stay on some streets waiting for the call instead of going around the roads wasting my gasoline.
Usually, we think of the “best way” to avoid rush hour when making appointments or planning visits to friends in Metro Manila; there is no best time to travel during rush hour because traffic starts to build up even in the morning.