[Kasalikasan] What do traffic and garbage have in common? Band-aid solutions

Hello!

January always feels like the longest month of the year because it’s the first month back from the holidays. But you know what feels longer? Being stuck in traffic, wasting minutes, sometimes hours, when you could be doing more productive things with your time.

If you live or work in Metro Manila, where were you last December 9? I was fortunate enough to have the option to work from home that day, but many workers did not have that luxury: According to the latest TomTom Traffic Index, that was the worst day to travel in Metro Manila in 2025, with the congestion level reaching a whopping 88% — and that wasn’t even peak Christmas season yet!

The same index also pointed out that a 10-kilometer drive in the metro in 2025 took 31 seconds longer than the 2024 average. 

What does that say about the efforts to solve Metro Manila’s perennial traffic problem when it’s taking longer, not shorter, for us to go from point A to point B?

Along EDSA alone, too many “solutions” have been touted in the last year, and they were often attempts to take away the bus carousel lane that has served millions instead of dealing with the congestion caused by more and more cars plying through roads that are not suitable for heavy traffic. 

The latest suggestion? Make the bus lane a carpool lane, too, but for vehicles with 10 or more people. My fellow editors and I wondered how that would even work: Would people start buying vans now? And won’t this only delay not just buses but also ambulances that use the lane during emergencies? So many questions about another band-aid solution (which the transportation department has rightfully shut down). Maybe let’s leave the bus lane alone and channel our energy into improving our public transportation and decongesting our roads, yes?

What else happened in January? Early last month, Manila City came out with a statement defending its controversial ordinance on garbage collection fees as “lawful and constitutionally sound,” probably after businesses groaned from the astronomical increase in fees that had not been updated since 2013. Rappler reporter Patrick Cruz wrote that some businesses decried the lack of public consultation, but the city’s vice mayor said the hike didn’t require one — never mind if the increase is as much as 1,200%.

Would it really hurt to consult businesses that provide employment and bring revenue to the capital city? And with the country’s solid waste management still “far from ideal,” maybe it’s time to take a long, hard look at this focus on collection without addressing the other components in managing waste. If only we could implement our solid waste management laws better, maybe we wouldn’t have to amend them to explore more band-aid solutions.

We deserve better.

Till the Tuesday after next!

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