Wishful tinkering

A dozen hopes for 2026

FIRST OFF, we all deserve hearty congratulations for surviving 2025. It was crazy on so many levels, wasn’t it? Freaky weather, freaky world events, freaky politicians, freaky government contractors. The year was a gift that kept on giving us a variety of surprises — from happy ones to heartache-inducing.

Now that we’re ready to close the curtains on the year, it’s time for our customary resolutions for the next one — a 2026 that’s still pristine and unsullied. See if any (or all) these are also on your motoring/mobility wish list.

1. A better EDSA. We were all dreading the originally planned massive (though much needed) rehabilitation of the country’s main road artery that is the Epifanio de los Santos Avenue (EDSA) last year — one that had us on tenterhooks because of the implications to our daily commute, and for two years at that. Well, the government has given us a sort of compromise to minimize the discomfort and inconvenience while getting to tick crucial boxes. As reported by our sister publication The Philippine STAR (through Ghio Ong and Rainier Allan Ronda), Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Secretary Vince Dizon said that, along with a budget slash from P17 billion to P6 billion, fixing EDSA will be done in two phases of four months each. The first one — covering Roxas Boulevard up to Orense Street in Makati — commenced on Christmas Eve (11 p.m., to be exact) and should be done in “April or May next year.” Here’s hoping that when everything’s completed, we don’t have to contend with unexpected, gaping potholes after typhoons or seasonal showers. To the DPWH chief’s credit, he acknowledged that people get angry at endless reblocking measures (i.e., an endless revenue stream?), so he knows the value of a one-time, bigtime effort.

2. Kinder motorists. How many of us have gone viral in 2025 — and for the worst of reasons? We’ve seen drivers duke it out on the road — letting their fists or makeshift weapons settle matters that could have been done through sober, level-headed talk. May the unexpected gifts we receive next be pleasant ones, not a show-cause order from the Land Transportation Office (LTO), a suspension of our license, or worse.

3. Pedestrian-friendly developments. Sometimes, in a mad rush to open thoroughfares, put in light or electric poles, or even fix drainage, the end result can be a savaged, hardly recognizable sidewalk. People like saying that roads are for cars and sidewalks are for people. What’s a pedestrian to do when there are no sidewalks at all, or when they’re iffy and unilluminated at night? Commuters already have to contend with such difficulties on a daily basis. It wouldn’t be asking too much to make the metro more pedestrian-friendly, right? While we’re at it, penalizing motorists (including riders) not respecting crosswalks, bike lanes, and sidewalks must be the order of the day if our daily experience on the road is to improve.

4. Roads are not for peddling vegetables. Of course, it works both ways. We wonder why congestion gets so bad during the holiday season, only for us to see vendors encroaching onto streets. It’s not a crime to make a living, but there’s a place for everything. This is just wrong, and dangerous.

5. More public charging points. As the number of battery electric vehicle (BEV) models are on the rise from a number of brands, a lingering pain point remains to be an inadequate public charging infrastructure. While the increased range of newer vehicles helps dispel the worry of running out of charge on the road, a meaningful and decisive shift to electric cannot happen with huge gaps in the national charging network. The numbers are certainly there though. If you’ve been to the mall lately, you’ve seen how EV charging slots are usually taken — sometimes irritatingly by vehicles that are already fully charged but have been conveniently left by their owners.

6. Safer public transportation. We’re looking at you, bus, jeepney, and truck drivers and operators. The abundance of “accidents” caused by “brake failure” is staggering, and frankly leaves the rest of us fearing for our lives when we get close to any of these vehicle types on the road. While we do appreciate the efforts of government agencies to crack down on these clunkers and “rolling coffins,” there simply isn’t enough manpower to go around. We need the sector stakeholders and players to step up — to simply care enough and realize that lives are being put in their care every time they take in passengers and hit the road.

7. Rider beware, be aware. Speaking of being fearful, I genuinely am concerned for moto riders out there. I don’t know if it’s George Gerbner’s Mean World Syndrome (related to his Cultivation Theory) rearing its ugly head. To those unfamiliar, the longtime theory posits that “heavy consumers” of media, particularly violent depictions (or even gory coverage of accidents), can lead to perceptions of “increased fear, distrust, and anxiety.” But can you blame me? It’s quite common these days on the news to hear of riders getting mangled underneath buses and other vehicles. It doesn’t matter who’s at fault; it doesn’t justify having lives abruptly ended on the road. So, please be careful out there. An abundance of caution is infinitely more favorable than speeding and being reckless just to get to your destination faster. Getting there in one piece is the only acceptable goal.

8. Better public transportation. Safe is one thing; being comfortable is another. How many of us feel tired after riding the MRT, LRT, bus, or jeepney? How many of us enjoy being packed like sardines? I know it can get crowded in other countries, too, but our public transportation takes congestion to a whole other level. It’s like beating a dead horse at this point, but could you imagine how better off we would be now if those billions of stolen government funds were funneled into the improvement of the transportation sector? We would be, to quote the infamous Sarah Discaya, “happy, happy, yes.”

9. Service and smart enforcement. People have said that it’s easy to know when there are traffic enforcers at an intersection, because the congestion gets woefully worse. That seemingly tongue-in-cheek comment actually holds a nugget of truth. When some enforcers “hijack” or override traffic lights, it sometimes screws up the traffic more. And you get irate people riding their horns because they see the green light but they don’t get to go. Don’t get me wrong. Traffic enforcers don’t get enough credit for risking life, lungs, and limb to keep things moving and in order. But I swear, we need to train them not just to spot violators but to have a better understanding of how the traffic flows and how they can make or break it.

10. EDSA Busway compliance — for real. Whatever happened to the sanctity of the EDSA busway or carousel? If we go by the rules, it is primarily for Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board-authorized city buses. There are exceptions for ambulances, fire trucks, PNP, and only the top government officials (the President, Vice-President, Senate President, Speaker, and Chief Justice) and their convoys. Other exceptions include service vehicles for the busway. But really, we’ve seen such an abuse of the lane that it’s beginning to look ridiculous. Here’s a thought: The reinstated contactless apprehension measure should deal with these abusers — and make them famous.

11. Reviving the Mabuhay lanes. Mabuhay lanes, intended to be less-congested options for motorists, cannot work if the communities living along them do not cooperate by parking vehicles, peddling food or items on the road, or nonchalantly crisscross the length of the street.

12. Simple courtesies. Let’s make motorists great again. Learn to queue and not recklessly cut in line (I’m looking at you, habitual violators on EDSA entering the southbound Shaw underpass). Also, the traffic light turning green doesn’t mean you need to honk loudly to make things move. And please learn to use your turn signals, people. They’re there for a reason.

For greater effect I’m now going to listen to “Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want” by The Smiths. Have a Blessed New Year, and good luck to us all!