The agency is reminding riders to use proper lay-by areas for shelter instead of staying under bridges and similar structures. At the same time, the MMDA will be approaching fuel stations along EDSA to put up tents to lessen the cases of riders doing the dangerous and traffic-causing practice.
Eh, kayanin kaya ito? I didn’t even think there’s any lay-by areas in EDSA. But then again I’m neither a rider nor a driver, and my last experience with EDSA was before the pandemic.
Sana kayanin, kahit man lang sana yung may chance na makapag-suot ng kapote yung riders.
Lay-by areas are exceedingly rare in EDSA. Kapag nasiraan ka, usually talaga sa nearest gas station ang option mo.
Honestly, part of the problem is that riders tend to follow herd mentality. Yung tipong they feel emboldened kapag nakita nilang ginagawa na rin naman ng iba kahit alam naman nilang mali (i.e. counterflow, using the bus lane as a speed lane).
In this particular case, they often take shelter under MRT stations and take up more than half of the road, creating bottle necks.
I see, thanks for the insight. Kaya rin nag-aalangan ako kung gagana ito eh. The carrot-and-stick approach is commendable, but I am really doubting the carrot is commensurable with the stick.
My former boss rides his motorcycle to work and back, and he has told me na kapag nararamdaman nyang uulan, lalo na kung pauwi na siya, he’d stop by some coffee shop or whatever. He’d then stay there until he deems it safe to resume his commute. I doubt this is an option for a lot of the motorcycle riders, however. If you’ve got some deliveries to do, you don’t have a lot of luxury looking for a suitable place for shelter during rains. That’s really why I am hoping there’s enough lay-by areas and gas station shelters for the riders to use.
There are tons of layovers. Off the top of my head, there’s a long one just in front of Megamall, another just above the Shaw underpass, the u-turn slot before the Quezon Ave flyover, underneath Santolan near Crame, and the Kamuning-Cubao intersection. Still, these are few and far between and there’s a chance you can get caught in rain between these lay-bys. But then again, you could usually tell from how the weather looks that it’s about to fall, so you’ll have to adjust accordingly.
That said, these are mostly in EDSA. Tons of parts in the metro are still unaccounted for. Like in Quezon Avenue, that whole stretch is open heading to Manila with no gas stations in sight. That’s a long-ass road with plenty of riders traversing it. They end up bunching on the G. Araneta underpass once it pours, and they take up an entire lane that only has space for two. I was also in Commonwealth yesterday, and I don’t recall seeing any lay-bys, and that’s another road with plenty of motorists.
Still, these are few and far between and there’s a chance you can get caught in rain between these lay-bys.
Yeah, this is what I am thinking. If you’re planning on making use of those lay-bys, you’d have to have a sense of when there’s incoming rain (or, more generally for using a lay-by, an uncanny sense of when your vehicle is going to spez out).
Also, huge yikes on the situation in Quezon Avenue and Commonwealth Avenue. One could argue na malapad naman ang Commonwealth kaya okay lang na tumabi, pero GG pag rush hour dun! I’ve used the footbridge to INC Central during the prelude to the evening rush hour, and even as early as then, it’s a veritable sea of vehicles. Good luck na lang talaga sa mga maiistuck sa Commonwealth Ave. pag umulan.
Pinaparadahan din ng iba yung lay-by e.
Understood kung mga emergency vehicles, kaso mo yung ibang nakaparada parang pribadong sasakyan/motor [minsan pagmamaya ari ng ng pulis or traffic enforcer] e.
Baka naman nasiraan ng ulo /jk!
Syempre. We don’t expect na gagawa sila ng structures to protect riders from the rain. Ganyan ang beshy mo. Punitive lagi ang solution.
Basa basa naman tayo ng article.
Sorry naman kung ndi ko naexplain. By structures I mean permanent. Gaano ba kabilis mag set up ng tents lalo habang umuulan? Paano malalaman nung pupunta sa tulay na may tent nearby as an alternative? May magseset up din ng temp signages? Kung sa pedestrians nga walang masilungan, pero di nila susulusyunan kasi hindi nila nakita epek sa trapik.
Baka naisip lang nila ito para ipasa ang sisi ng trapik sa mga riders, kasi konti na lang ang bus at jeep na masisi. Parang di mo kilala beshy mo.
It would be near impossible to set up infra that can accommodate motorcycle riders, especially at EDSA. And these riders are actually causing unnecessary traffic. I’ve seen them create bottlenecks at the Santolan and Ortigas stations.
Oo naman, they cause traffic. Pero hindi pwedeng policies or administrative lang ang mga solution.
Why mo nasabi na near impossible? Ang haba ng stretch ng sidewalk along EDSA na walang cover between those areas na mention mo. Government property pa yung karamihan, tama ba?
Huh? Hindi pa ba policy na yung the fact that they’re penalized for not using the road for its intended purpose? And I’m talking about infrastructure to provide shelter to motorcycle riders. Or are you suggesting that riders should be able to use space intended for pedestrians?
Yes, that’s what I’m saying. With proper engineering solutions, shared safe spaces for both pedestrians and riders can be created. Let’s not limit our imaginations with this or that lang, when both can be done. Do both engineering and administrative solutions since kulang na kulang kung admin lang.
Imagination won’t solve it when most of the EDSA sidewalk isn’t even up to code for pedestrians. The only places where it can be potentially accommodated are the areas where there’s not a lot of pedestrian traffic or there’s enough space to accommodate both. And one motorcycle on an average EDSA sidewalk already takes a lot of space.
