Our unfriendly pedestrian lanes

Sunday, February 12, 2012

IT’S already 8:30 in the morning again. I will be rushing to go to Metrobank for my OJT. Well, I don’t need to take a cab. I need to burn the fats to make me feel more beautiful than my supervisor. From my beloved school, University of Baguio, I have to cross Session road then Harrison road. Taking a walk via Mabini Street, I realized that it’s nice walking down the road feeling the great ambiance of the city.

As I reach session road, ohh!, a great number of pedestrians are standing before the pedestrian lane waiting for the traffic light signal for the vehicles to turn red. It’s a rush hour. All are rushing towards their destination. Speeding taxi cabs horning, impatient pedestrians scratching and disobedient running across the street knowing that it’s not their time to cross.

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Well, it’s great plan because we aggregated the pedestrians into a single pedestrian locations. However, I noticed that there are several issues that need to be addressed along Session road. First, the pedestrian lane is not enough to contain the great number of pedestrians to cross. As a result, some will take a walk at danger zones, I mean at the vehicle lane that crosses Session road, causing the taxi cabs to blow their horrible and noisy horns. What if we will designate a lane for each direction so that pedestrian will not bump each other?

Second, pedestrians waiting for their turn to cross the road are blocking the sidewalk. It’s unorganized. At first time, I was very inquisitive because countless people are out there standing. What if we will lessen the car’s time so that the intervals are not so long? Instead of giving 60 seconds for the cars to pass, let’s make it 40 seconds.

After a minute of wondering at Session road, I successfully and safely crossed the street. Here I am again at Harrison road. It’s evident that Filipinos are not fully law-abiding citizens. They don’t follow simple traffic rules and regulations. Jitneys and some other vehicles don’t give way for pedestrians. As a result, pedestrian try to look for spaces where they can fit in. Also, some pedestrians have two gall bladders. They are crossing the road even if it’s not their turn.

Well, I think the best way to solve these simple issues develop our self-discipline in order to lessen this simple issue in our environment and for the comfort of our drivers. (Elizabeth J. Benmolog and Monaliza S. Malate)