Team BUS recounts Day 1

Nits del Rosario, videographer Izah Morales of INQUIRER.net, and I took a JMK aircon bus with plate No. 527 at 8:16 a.m. at Trinoma Edsa in Quezon City for Taft Avenue in Pasay City.

Traffic was moderate at the starting point, but when we were nearing the Kamuning overpass, traffic became heavy until we passed the Cubao intersection.

In front of Farmers Plaza in Cubao, the bus driver waited for 23 long minutes for more passengers before he stepped on the gas.

Even though it was raining, many commuters were taking public vehicles just to save money and energy.

When we arrived at Taft Avenue at 10:01 a.m. it was still raining. Still, many people were walking either to go to their place of work or school nearby, or to their connecting ride.

We saw a lot of trash along the highway that early morning.

It was a nice experience. We hope that in the next race we will travel from Bicol in Southern Luzon to Ilocos in Northern Luzon.

*written by Iris Desvarro

Posted by : INQUIRER.net

Team TAXI recalls struggle of getting a cab

At 8:00 a.m. we were supposed to start with the race but were delayed by seven minutes because our videographer was trapped in the MRT station going down because of the sudden swell of commuters.

It took us forever to get a cab because most were either with passengers or simply because the cab drivers refused to take us.

One cab driver said he did not have LPG fuel anymore, while another said he did not have a fare meter.

Adding to our woes was the downpour.

At 8:51 a.m., after almost 40 minutes of jockeying with other commuters and running after taxi cabs, which did not want to be flagged down, we were able to hail a RENO taxi.

This prompted Kiko to utter “hirap muna bago sarap (suffering first before enjoyment)” as the cool air conditioning system of the taxi flowed and soothed his skin.

As we traveled along Edsa our smooth cruise was temporarily halted as we neared Cubao – the first choke point in the race.

But after our driver negotiated the stretch from GMA7 to Cubao underpass, traffic started to flow freely.

Our driver Jojo entertained us with his observations about LPG versus gasoline, his rants about rising oil prices and his opinion on the P10 increase in “the fare which will just go to the owner of the taxi.”

Additional choke points we noticed were at Guadalupe and Buendia-Ayala area.

We reached our destination - Pasay Taft - at 9:46 a.m. It took us almost an hour (55 minutes) and our flagged down fare was P166.50 plus the additional P10.00 for a total of P177.50

We gave our good driver P200.00 for a smooth and safe travel.

Based on our experience it will take a commuter P180.00 and 55 minutes of travel time via taxi from Trinoma in North Avenue, Quezon City to Taft Avenue in Pasay City by taking the Edsa route.

Surprisingly, traffic along Edsa was light and we observed the reduction in the number of motorists plying the Edsa route considering it was a Monday rush hour.

(Team TAXI is composed of Grig Montegrande, Kiko Gopez of the Philippine Daily Inquirer, videographer Lawrence Casiraya of INQUIRER.net)

Posted by : INQUIRER.net

Second best is still sweet III

9:02 a.m. We finally reach the MRT station in Guadalupe. The yellow lane is empty. Where have all the buses gone? Several billboards catch our attention especially that of a hottie lying supine, dressed only in his underwear. Eye candy. Alex disagrees but quietly.

9:05 a.m. Team CAR is caught in heavy traffic once more as it approaches the intersection of Estrella Street. Aaaaaaarghs! Team MRT is probably having breakfast and reading the Inquirer at the Mall of Asia.

9:07 a.m. Team CAR joins the long line of vehicles inching their way along the Ayala underpass.

9:11 a.m. We pick up speed.

9:13 a.m. We are traveling at 65 kph (a record!) as we approach Magallanes MRT station.

9:18 a.m. We finally arrive at our destination - Pasay MRT station. Stephanie keeps a sharp eye out for a gas station, Elvira dreams of pancakes for breakfast, while Alex wants to go straight to the INQUIRER.net office to upload the video of this amazing race. *written by Stephanie Asuncion and Elvira Mata.

Posted by : INQUIRER.net

Second best is still sweet II

8:22 a.m. Team CAR reaches GMA-Kamuning MRT station. Finally. The drizzle turns into a heavy downpour. Alex, who's shooting the sights, tries to roll down the windows at the back but they are stuck. Uh-oh. Elvira explains this is the first time she's had this many human passengers (she usually travels with cats) so the doors and windows are hardly ever used.

8:24 a.m. Traffic eases up a bit. Another MRT train races past the team. We are now on top of the Edsa Kamuning flyover. Mercifully, Elvira gives her CD of Indian chanting a rest and turns on the AM radio: Mike Enriquez reports about a fire at the Good Earth Emporium in Sta. Cruz, Manila that has affected LRT operations. Stephanie: Good thing MRT operations are normal, otherwise, this race would be reset and we'd all have to get up at 5 a.m. Again. Elvira: I've only seen the dawn twice. This is my second time.

8:29 a.m. Team CAR crawls past EDSA-Kamuning intersection. Elvira is stressed by the radio news and plays her Indian chanting CD again. All together now: Deep, cleansing breath.

8:32 a.m. Vehicles start to pick up speed near the Aurora underpass in Cubao. On our right, passenger buses take turns to cross the Aurora Boulevard-EDSA intersection. Motorcycle riders definitely have an advantage over us, as they can weave in and out of traffic. The downside, however, is that they are exposed to the elements.

8:37 a.m. Team CAR moves at a much faster pace and reaches Araneta Center-Cubao MRT station. Nine stations (of the cross?) to go.

8:39 a.m. Traffic builds up near the Santolan flyover as passenger buses swerve to the left to get on the flyover.

8:41 a.m. On top of the flyover, we see a long line of vehicles occupying all lanes on EDSA all the way to the Santolan MRT station.

8:42 a.m. After the Santolan MRT station, vehicles start to pick up speed. It starts to rain again. A Krispy Kreme billboard makes Stephanie's mouth water.

8:45 a.m. The car is traveling at 60 kph, the team's fastest speed since the start of the race.

8:47 a.m. Team car passes the Ortigas MRT station, slowing down as we approach Shaw underpass.

8:53 a.m. The good news is that the rain has stopped. The bad news is that we are moving at a snail's pace as we approach Pioneer Street. We pass by the Boni MRT station four minutes later. Buses and taxis crowd the yellow lane, watched closely by MMDA traffic enforcers. People in rain gear stand at intersections while those who forgot their umbrellas at home seek shelter underneath the MRT station. At the corner of EDSA-Mandaluyong rotunda, two MMDA traffic enforcers hold up signs which read "Bawal bumisina".

8:58 a.m. Traffic stretches all the way to the Guadalupe MRT station. Change of pace. Elvira pops in Alanis Morrisette's latest CD "Flavors of Entanglement." Team is happy that after four quiet years, Alanis has another CD out. But is it as good as her phenomenal "Jagged Little Pill" CD? Not too bad.

Posted by : INQUIRER.net

Second best is still sweet I

We may have clocked in second and spent a fortune on gas, but we got to our destination without killing anyone for a seat. Best of all, our clothes were unwrinkled.

Expecting the ride to be long, we packed mineral water, pan de sal, gummy bears, audio CDs and weird conversation ranging from the difference between WiFi and WeRoam and how to tell if that homeless man is sniffing glue or just happy to see us.

Team CAR took an hour and 19 minutes to travel from EDSA North station all the way to Pasay Taft station, which has a distance of 16.8 kilometers. A dry run of the same route done on a rainy Sunday took all of 22 minutes.

Team CAR members are: driver Elvira Mata, navigator and note taker Stephanie Asuncion, both from the Philippine Daily Inquirer and videographer Alex Villafania of INQUIRER.net.

The Honda CRV 2004 (manual transmission) traveled an average of 7.8 km per liter of unleaded gasoline. Elvira had two pan de sals, Stephanie had a handful of gummy bears while Alex just drank water.

Timeline and details follow:

8:01 a.m. Elvira, Stephanie and Alex meet on Edsa beside the North Avenue MRT station. While waiting for Alex to arrive, Elvira and Stephanie look up at the MRT overpass and gasped as they watched the long line of sardines, er, people inch their way from the stairs to the counter to buy tickets. Alex has texted saying he was on the other side of EDSA trying to cross (part or swim) through the multitudes. Opening prayer: Thank God we chose to take the car.

8:02 a.m. A quick establishing shot, a round of introductions, and they're off! Stephanie offers sustenance in the form of gummy bears, Elvira apologizes for her "hooded look," mumbling something about not wishing anyone to see her face on the Internet and yes, she is taking medication for the strange behavior, while Alex takes a swig of mineral water, perhaps to calm his nerves? Kidding. Final destination: Pasay-Taft MRT station.

8:06 a.m. Four minutes into the race, Team CAR is caught in bumper-to-bumper traffic near the Timog Avenue flyover. Stephanie tells Elvira to turn right, find a short cut, anything as long as they're moving. Because of Elvira's inability to swerve like a crazy person, Team car gets stuck a few meters from GMA-7. A jampacked MRT train zips by. We wonder if team MRT is on that train. Elvira pops in a CD in the player, Ravi Shankar's "Chants of India" and everyone settles in for a very slow, clutch-riding trip.

8:16 a.m. Team car still caught in traffic near the GMA-Kamuning MRT station. It starts to drizzle. Dark clouds loom over the horizon. We spot a man on a motorcycle dressed for the worst weather—bright yellow raincoat down to his ankles, shoes wrapped in plastic bags, one, SM blue and the other, clear plastic. Alex, a techie, sends updates to the mother net.

Posted by : INQUIRER.net

Done in 36 minutes I

It took 36 minutes for Philippine Daily Inquirer's Team MRT to travel from the North Avenue station to the Taft Avenue terminal of the Metro Rail Transit 3, covering 16.8 kilometers and spanning 13 stations on Epifanio de los Santos Avenue (Edsa) in four cities of Metro Manila.

This was the record set by Penelope Endozo and Janie Octia for the Inquirer Talk of the Town's special race to determine the fastest and cheapest way to get around the main thoroughfares of the metropolis.

For only P15 pesos, the four-train car-blue liner runs 65 km per hour, making it a popular albeit exhausting choice among students, yuppies and workers on their way to work and school.

Imagine how the same commuting populace, tired and probably sweaty, would go home with barely inches from each other on rush hour.

"That's the other 'price' to pay--inconvenience. It's tolerable as long as I won't get late," Penelope reasons out.

Team MRT observed that a great volume of passengers have alighted at the Cubao, Shaw Boulevard, Ayala and Taft Avenue stations with an average of 20 seconds waiting-time per stopover.

Each stopover was a struggle to keep one’s balance, stretching limbs to hold on to the nearest handrail and avoiding any violation of space. Penelope and Janie noticed that every time the door was about to open, people trapped inside the middle section--usually those who got in first-- had the hardest time to get out.

"Everyone wants a piece of his or her fifteen-peso space," Penelope observes, "Some are even inconsiderate; they don't wait for others to leave before getting in."

With the surging number of commuters preferring the fast train over the traffic on the road, additional guards have been deployed to patrol the area to address a different kind of 'traffic'--crowd control and ticket queuing in the station.

Posted by : INQUIRER.net

Done in 36 minutes II

For Team MRT, it took four minutes with around 130 other people to buy a ticket. The longer wait was at the ground floor with about 10 minutes per batch in the waiting area with more than 200 people at any given time within the rush hour. Even Janie, the videographer, found herself stranded in the sea of commuters at the ground floor.

Even with a ticket, the Team had to wait for three minutes before boarding the next train.

The shortest time traveled was recorded from Quezon Avenue to GMA-Kamuning terminal-- two minutes apart. The longest wait was from Magallanes to Taft Avenue - - four minutes.

Both ends of the boxed train line, North and Taft Avenue stations, have now implemented one-way flow schemes since June 8 of this year to impart discipline among commuters on-the-go.

In North Avenue, the passengers are divided by batches so that each train will not be full to give way to other passengers on the succeeding stations. At the station on Taft Avenue, only one entrance-one exit policy is being used for single journey ticket holders, although an express lane has been reserved for pregnant and the elderly.

In this day and age in which every person stands for himself or herself--even literally--it was good to see some passengers giving their seats to the elderly, women and children.

"Since we're in an all-women coach, I guess there's another hierarchy of respect to follow. Another woman gives her own space for the older folks and pregnant women," Penelope says.

Team MRT, however, was surprised to see a young policeman among what was supposed to be an exclusive crowd.

North Avenue's station manager confirmed the increase of train users especially from 7 a.m. to 8 a.m. and from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. as rush hours, with some passengers literally running to catch the next train.

Once inside, some were reading newspapers, others were texting, but most were on their feet waiting for their stop.

The congestion inside the electric-driven carriages has also become a tempting ground for petty crimes such as pick pocketing and sexual harassment.

"If we're on the all-women train and it's already like this, imagine how rowdy it could be on the other train with men," Penelope says.

With this, the passenger segregation of women, children and senior citizen passengers from others since May 2006 and additional visibility of guards were welcomed.

Despite these travails, the MRT remains a popular choice among commuters, braving the crowd in exchange for a fast and cheap ride in Metro Manila.

# Penelope Iole P. Endozo

Posted by : INQUIRER.net

Team MRT wins Day 1 of ‘Rush Hour Commute’

DAY One of the “Rush Hour Commute” ended with Team MRT winning the race from Trinoma North Avenue in Quezon City to Taft Avenue in Pasay.

Team MRT is composed of Amy Rañola and Penelope Endozo of the Philippine Daily Inquirer (PDI) and Janie Octia of INQUIRER.net.

The Rush Hour Commute is a race composed of four teams of volunteers taking a commuter train, bus, jeepney, taxi or car in various parts of Metro Manila at 8 a.m. on August 4-6.

The idea is to compare the costs and determine how long it takes for ordinary Filipinos to travel from one point to another during the rush hour. Day Two of the race will be from Santolan in Pasig to C.M. Recto in Manila while Day Three will be a commuter race from Baclaran in Paranaque to Monumento in Caloocan.

Team MRT suffered delays due to the large volume of people queuing at the North Avenue Station during Monday morning traffic. People swelled at the MRT ticket booths as passengers started trickling in. The team even had to leave a teammate behind since she did not make it to the starting line in time for the race. In the end, Team MRT still managed to finish first. Each team member spent P15 for the trip.

Team CAR, composed of Elvira Mata and Steph Asuncion of PDI and Alex Villafania of INQUIRER.net, finished second despite slight delays in leaving the starting point. Team CAR also stopped to gas up toward the end of the race.

Team TAXI, made up of Grig Montegrande and Kiko Gopez of PDI and Lawrence Casiraya of INQUIRER.net, had the most difficult time as they tried to hail a cab under the rain from SM North Station. Team TAXI was only able to get a cab more than 30 minutes after the race started. By the time they were finally able to hire a cab, Team MRT had already reached the finish line. As they braved Edsa traffic, members of Team TAXI said they had a lively discussion with their cab driver Jojo who was ranting about the effects of the oil price hike. Team TAXI spent a total of P180 for the trip.

Team BUS, composed of Iris Desvarro and Nita del Rosario of PDI and and Izah Morales of INQUIRER.net, was the last team to arrive at the destination. Team BUS took two hours to get from Trinoma in Quezon City to Taft Avenue in Pasay, listening to old songs from the bus as they plied the Edsa route. Members of the team spent P40 each to get to their destination.

Accounts of the trip, photos and videos of the volunteers are posted on the Rush Hour Commute site (www.inquirer.net/rushhourcommute). The results will also be summarized in the Talk of the Town section of the Philippine Daily Inquirer on Aug. 10.

Posted by : Erwin Oliva

TEAM BUS REACHES FINISH LINE LAST!

Team BUS is now alighting from the JMK bus which is now at Taft Avenue in Pasay, finishing last. Fare was 40 pesos each from North Avenue in Quezon City to Taft Avenue, a trip which took about 2 hours. Team BUS is composed of Iris Desvarro, Nita del Rosario and Izah Morales.

Posted by : Leo Magno

Team BUS on Magallanes flyover, sees garbage

Team BUS reports that they are now passing over the Magallanes flyover. Prior to that, the team reports seeing a big pile of garbage at the intersection of Pasay Road and Dasmarinas Village.

Posted by : Leo Magno