The Carmageddon on Tuesday night, September 8, 2015, gave all of us who use EDSA and its peripheral roads with a very URGENT WAKE-UP CALL that something radical and long-lasting must be done with the horrendous traffic in EDSA before we all die senselessly inside our cars, along the MRT stations, or along the whole stretch of EDSA from suffocation, stress, and pollution. We have been subjected to this abuse for so long and nothing substantial has been done so far. We have no business telling the world that it is more fun in the Philippines if we have a traffic situation that is fifth worst in the world. Certainly, dying along EDSA will be on top of the List of Dumb Ways to Die in the Philippines if we just rant and do nothing.

While the government is busy looking at grandiose solutions such as the subway system and the BRT, we hereby propose the following no-nonsense, economical, and easy to implement solutions.

First. Build Two Additional Bridges Along the Pasig River Connecting Makati CBD to Mandaluyong City and and BGC to Pasig City.

The first bridge will start from San Francisco Street in Mandaluyong City and drop at the back of Makati City Hall and then connected to an elevated road that will traverse along S. Osmena, Antipolo St., Trabajo, JP. Rizal Ave., South Avenue and dropping down on Ayala Avenue right after Yakal St.  This will be especially useful for motorists and passengers from Makati, Mandaluyong, and San Juan. Currently, motorists using the MMDA Christmas Lane connecting the Ortigas Center and the Makati Business District still have to turn left at San Francisco Street to Coronado and then cross the Mandaluyong Bridge. The problem with this is that Makati Avenue traffic is also dead during rush hours. With the connector road at the end of Ayala Avenue, Makati motorists heading north will now have an alternate route to EDSA and thereby decongest it significantly. The elevated road is important so that motorists going to the San Francisco will not add up to the already heavy traffic in those roads where the elevated road traverses.

The second bridge, on the other hand, will connect Lawton Avenue outside of BGC and drop at Sta. Monica St. in Pasig. This bridge will also be connected by an elevated road all the way to the end of 8th Avenue in BGC so as to bypass the heavy traffic along Kalayaan Avenue. This bridge will be greatly beneficial to those from the areas of Taguig and Pasig and even those further north of Taguig such as Marikina and Quezon City. Those coming from Ortigas going to BGC and vice-versa need no longer pass thru EDSA as they can take this alternate route from Shaw Blvd, then E. Capitol Drive and then Sta. Monica St then cross the proposed bridge to 8th Avenue.

Why do we need to do these two additional bridges first? Because whatever mass transport project or road rehabilitation you will do on EDSA will create traffic chaos on both sides of the river affecting all other streets along and all the way to other cities unless you create additional bridges as alternative routes for motorists to cross the mighty but polluted Pasig River.

Second. Build an Elevated and Air-conditioned Walkalator Tube from Abenida Epifanio delos Santos in the Mall of Asia Complex to SM North Edsa.

Why a walkalator? Why elevated? Why air-conditioned? People might scoff at this idea as being ridiculous but hear me out first.

A subway system will take years and very expensive to construct. A BRT system will also eat a lot of space and does not maximize the number of people that can be transported continuously at any given time. Though I have nothing against these other modes of transportation, a walkalator offers several advantages over its rivals:

1. It can easily be constructed.
2. It does not eat road space since the support structure will be constructed along the sides of the road
3. It is a lot cheaper.
4. It can transport people continuously.
5. More people can be transported at any given time.
6. Walking and even standing has some health benefits.
7. In case of brownouts, people can  still continue walking safely inside the tube.

It has to be elevated for three reasons. First, is for it not to eat up the usable roadspace for driving. Second, is for the walkalator to be unaffected by flooding. Third is to prevent untoward incidents of vehicles smashing into the walkalator tube. It has to be air-conditioned to encourage people to walk and to protect them from the elements and the heavy pollution along EDSA.

To finance the Walkalator, the government or its private operator can charge a pedestrian toll fee for using the Walkalator. Additionally, the government can impose to ban all these ugly billboards along EDSA and impose that these can only be displayed on either the inside and outside walls of the walkalator.

Third. While construction is ongoing for the Walkalator or BRT, or Subway, Impose aTwo-Day Color Coding for All Private Cars Along Edsa

But of course! Since we already have two more bridges along the Pasig River to go to either BGC and Makati CBD as above proposed, it only makes sense that all private cars have to do its share in decongesting EDSA while all these other modes of transportation are being constructed.

Lastly. Build Tenement Housing for Employees of Makati CBD, Ortigas CBD, Cubao CBD, BGC within the Periphery of These Areas.

The logic is simple. If employees do not have to travel far and wide from their residences to their places of work and vice-versa then you do not have transportation and traffic problem. This follows the same concept where people work, live, and play in the same area without much need for long-distance transportation. This is the ultimate dream.