When you have to avoid Edsa like the plague

When Edsa—from Monumento in Caloocan City to Roxas Boulevard in Pasay City—was finally completed in the mid-’60s, the 24-kilometer thoroughfare was seen as the most effective road project to enhance traffic flow in and around the fast urbanizing cities of Metro Manila.

For decades, Edsa performed exactly as it was designed. However, beginning in the late ’90s, with the increasing urban population, the emergence of malls and shopping centers along its entire length, the occasional road construction and repair, plus the fact that more and more people in Metro Manila drive their own vehicles, Edsa on most days of the week is exceeding the number of vehicles it could safely and efficiently accommodate.

Beyond capacity

In one of his interviews,  Francis Tolentino, chair of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA), said Edsa at the moment is already operating way past its full capacity, explaining that on an almost daily basis, some 520,000 vehicles pass through Edsa going both directions.

Edsa was designed to only accommodate 320,000 moving vehicles going both directions daily.

This means, said Tolentino, that a single vehicle stalling on the middle of Edsa or a bus dawdling, waiting for passengers, can already have enormous impact on the rest of the traffic, leading to massive delays.

No wonder those who have experienced Edsa’s traffic situation going from bad to worse have just one solution: Avoid Edsa like the plague.

“For years, our fleet of over 100 taxis communicate via radio, so even before the popularity of [traffic and navigation app] Waze and MMDA, we already share real-time traffic situation and get advice on which roads are not yet congested or which area should be avoided. On most weekdays, we try to avoid Edsa, or at the very least, enter its least congested sections,” explained 65-year-old Noel Sumpio, a taxi driver who has been plying Metro Manila for more than 20 years.

Relying on memory

Like most veteran taxi drivers, Sumpio has memorized Metro Manila’s tangle of streets, relying on his memory rather than on modern technologies.

“My passenger once used his app and followed his instructions. We ended up on a street that is already closed because there were shanty dwellings. In some instances, these apps fail to update themselves on streets with gates, one-ways, or those streets that were temporarily closed due to a wake, a birthday party, or a basketball tournament,” said  Sumpio.

So which are these alternative routes that Sumpio use to skirt Edsa?

“I picked up a passenger in Makati Square, and that person needed to be at the Shrine of St. Joseph along Aurora Boulevard in Quezon City. Since the traffic situation in Edsa was very bad, I decided to head to the former Sta. Ana racetrack (via A. Reyes Avenue) and  to New Panaderos Extension, which led to General Kalentong. Then I proceeded to Col. Bonny Serrano Avenue, crossed Edsa via Santolan (Camp Crame and Camp Aguinaldo), then took 20th Avenue and turned right to J.P. Rizal. This street ended in Aurora Boulevard, where I turned left. The shrine is just a few meters from the intersection,” he said.

From NLEx to Makati

Sumpio narrated that when he had to take a passenger to Valenzuela or Balintawak area, he usually took the Manila route.

“When it was time to go back to Makati, I just reversed our route: I took the Valenzuela exit of the NLEx, then  headed straight to A. Bonifacio Avenue and then to Mayon Street. Afterward, I proceeded to Lacson Avenue and Quirino Avenue, and turned left to Skyway. I turned left to Zobel Roxas Street and Kamagong. We reached [his passenger’s] condo in Greenbelt, Makati, in just over an hour,” he said with a boast.

Use the Skyway

Since Sumpio’s taxi is based in Las Piñas (TAI/WMJJ Taxi), he usually advises his passenger to take the Skyway.

“It might be more expensive (one-way costs P164) to take the Skyway. However, it will shorten your travel time by several minutes. I usually get off Amorsolo exit if I need to be in Makati area or even Manila. I seldom take the Buendia exit because so many vehicles converge in the intersection. Moreover, a lengthened carriage of the Philippine National Railways that stops at Buendia (Dela Rosa) station will worsen the congestion,” he said.