TIB: No to Coastal Grand Terminal!

If it weren't for constant fatigue due to more than 4 hours of commute everyday, I wouldn't have had decided to rent. 

If I haven't rented, I may have been in that photo above. 

If I was on the photo above, I may have ranted earlier :-D

I have only seen it on the news and I was saddened at my fellow Caviteños who have to suffer this chaos early in the morning, IN THE RAIN for Pete's sake. They were oblivious on what to do, they may have paid more than they should that day, most of them late and tired and hungry and drenching in sweat and rain. I was lucky to be free of that but it doesn't change how I felt about this so called change.

I understand the need for a new traffic scheme but this is just drastic, careless and anti-commuter. What MMDA thought of as convenience for the Metro, is not so to the mass of people from Cavite who study and work there. I know, I've been there. And I experience it now when I go to and  fro Cavite in Sundays. Imagine Sunday mornings and I have to stand on a bus which is literally empty a few weeks back prior to the ban. Same goes at Sunday noon making it hard for me to commute back. Why is it now you say?

Previously there are a lot of bus lines going to and fro Metro and Cavite.  

Destination Manila we have San Agustin, Erjohn and Almark and random aircon buses near post office (please correct me on that one, I rarely commute to Manila)

Destination EDSA have Jasper Jean, San Agustin (Cubao to Tagaytay line), Saulog (Same route) and random open air buses that dock at Pasay and some more aircon buses by MRT-Taft, there's also Ayala routes that either go via EDSA or Leveriza. 

(I rarely commute to Manila so I would focus on the EDSA route, k?)

  

Since there are a lot of options, you can choose whatever bus you fancy. Let's say I want to go to MoA, I can just ride any bus from the list and get off at Baclaran, hail a taxi or ride one of those yellow shuttles. I can also take any Destination EDSA buses, get off at Harrison, cross via foot bridge, hail a jeep. If I don't know where to get off at Harrison, I can just simply get off at Pasay-Taft, use MRT's foot bridge and get a jeep or taxi from Kabayan Hotel. See how many options there is? To go to Ayala for instance, I have two options whether if my destination is nearer EDSA or if it's nearer the actual Makati CBD. Going to Megamall is full of options too, the easiest involving just one bus ride, or if you're saving money, why not get a Pasay open air bus then ride the MRT. It was amazing how you can mix and match bus/train/taxi rides to get to your destination, which is both convenient and possibly a money saver. 

However, convenience costs a big price: traffic, the exact reason why MMDA pinpoints Cavite buses as one of the reasons to blame. So they came up with a solution, which involved putting up a Terminal, prohibits majority of the buses to go any farther. From there, what we now need to do is get on the bus and go. The problem with this though is that the line is ridiculously long and is not a good translation in real life. Someone even dumbly suggested to mix and match bus, jeep and MRT just to get to Cubao from Cavite and he made it sound so easy. Others even suggested walking to ride any more public transportation. W.T.F. Whoever these guys are have no idea how far the terminal is from MRT, and how far anyone can manage to decently get to EDSA without losing their make-up and temper.

Red box is the edge of Coastal Road, Orange for Baclaran Church (where most buses are btw) and Green for Pasay-Taft. 

Now, how about people going to NAIA? From the Red Box, (left is the Central Terminal, Cavite buses are from the right) the easiest way to go is BEFORE the bus crosses the intersection, you get off immediately and take any taxi or jeep in front of KFC. Not only is it the easiest, but it's the most logical option. But noooo. Ever since the ban, no bus is allowed to let any passenger off EVEN at a STOP sign on the right side and instead can only be dropped off at the terminal. I do agree that dropping off passengers there isn't disciplined, but imagine you're going to NAIA and you're dropped off at the other side of the road WITH 5 pieces of luggage. You will need to cross via this:

Goodluck.

I imagine the intent of MMDA to alleviate whatever traffic ailments the Metro have but you seriously have to think this over. There's just one bus I see that are able to go to EDSA safely without these guys all over them and it's one hell of a ride because everyone, even those who just intend to go to Pasay have no other options but take the bus that's supposedly used to cater those who'd go farther than them just so they won't be inconvenienced by your terminal. And my sample earlier would have been okay if YOU GUYS HAVE ONLY THOUGHT THAT SOME OF US MAY WANT TO GO NAIA. An unloading/loading bay would have been better you know?!! And since the terminal takes too long to even dock off, you'd be forced to walk so far just to get a bus. 

Do you have any idea how far I've zoomed out just so I can draw in those lines?!

Imagine doing this every single day. Imagine doing this in heels and in makeup. Imagine doing this in your best suit. Imagine doing this when you're already late. Imagine doing this when the weather is awful. 

I now believe no one in MMDA who have approved of this commuted to and fro Cavite-Metro Manila AT ALL. 

Other than renting, I can now consider getting a car (excited in getting a license!!) but how about the tons of people who wanted to comfortably reach their destinations? Yes, you've somewhat freed EDSA of our buses but have you ever considered what Caviteños gave up just so you can drive your private cars quicker than before? You should have thought carefully how the transition would affect everyone! You've removed our mode of transportation and you replaced it with what? Buses that queue for too long and that stupid footbridge? You haven't even prepared your signs on your roll out day!!

I don't know how long my fellow Caviteños need to have endure this, but as I know, our hopes for an LRT extension is too far from reality now since we've now lost bidders. Too bad the bus ban came much earlier :-(. It would have helped all of us.

Notes:

Images of maps are from Google Maps.

First image and excerpt are from this link: http://www.interaksyon.com/article/68053/carless-commuters-from-cavite-stranded-on-first-day-of-ban-on-provincial-buses

PDF Link from PSE: http://www.pse.com.ph/resource/disclosures/2013/pdf/dc2013-6692_DMC.pdf