Letting Go of the Jeepney By Stephen Jardeleza The jeepney, long been considered as the cultural icon of Philippine transportation, is outdated. Despite the numerous jeepneys plying all routes in the province and city, it is outdated. With the demands of time, economy, innovation and fuel prices, it has become outdated. The World War II Ford or Willy’s Jeep has come a long way, its evolution has framed Philippine history and painted the image of public transportation for decades, but it is outdated. Accidents involving the jeepney has been numerous over the years. It has taken more lives than any other public transportation because of the shortage of safety features and the ‘surplus’ nature of its make. Though Filipino innovations has allowed for the evolution of the jeepney (like the Sarao, Chariot and our very own Passad brands), still we cannot deny the fact that the engine and its parts are cannibalized Japanese brands. Sans the maintenance that is really required and with the changing of drivers in the boundary system, the jeepney has been in more accidents, second only to motorcycles. The boundary system in public jeepneys push drivers to stop and wait for passengers in curbs and streets just to get by and this cause traffic jams and annoyance from the public. Like when they rush in between vehicles to pick passengers and drop others improperly, the jeepney has been the pain in the neck for the riding public. Iloilo jeepneys has been an icon of Ilonggo culture especially when Ilonggo ingenuity was incorporated in the makes of the ‘pasad’ jeepneys. It is only in Iloilo where one can see a Toyota Hi Lux jeepney or a Grandia but lowered with tubeless tires and chrome 14 inch rims. The innovations are very catchy and enticing, almost eclipsing the ugly truth about the noxious emissions of the ‘surplus’ engines. In a study, a 17-seater long jeepney consumes the same amount of diesel as a 54-seater airconditioned bus, thereby making it the most disadvantageous public transport in the country. Disadvantageous from the standpoint of the driver who strives to hit the ceiling of the boundary system; from the standpoint of the commuter who struggles for an inch of space every time they ride and jostle with the rest of the rushing bodies vying for a seat and, finally, disadvantageous from the standpoint of the environment when thousands of them jeepneys belch that dark carbon monoxide into the atmosphere. For all of its nostalgia and history the venerable jeepney is outdated. It is time to consider the alternative to the smoke belching jeepney and its gas-guzzling, traffic-inducing form. It is time to strike down the boundary system, provide the drivers regular salaries with health and insurance benefits, and implement regular and alternate stops for commuters in cheap and clean transportation. The government should really start looking into the alternatives and not the ‘ningas-cogon’ attitude being exhibited on new technologies like the e-jeep system. By the way, our very own Iloilo City government has e-jeeps in the motorpool collecting dusts and cobwebs and was formerly intended to give free rides to students and the senior citizens. That was a noble intention cut short by the useless feuding in between politicking marring the otherwise noble goal of setting the groundwork for e-jeep adaption in this city. We need to let go of the outdated jeepneys if we want to live up to our dreams of a premier city in the coming years.
Posted on: Mon, 11 Aug 2014 21:19:19 +0000
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