“Express Connect” service buses receive few passengers after its launch

By Jedd Francis De Luna

Passengers approve it; bus drivers reject it.

This is the term that the bus drivers and conductors of the “Express Connect” buses – a one-month test project of the Department of Transportation and Communication (DOTC), along with the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA), and the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) – used to describe the operation days after its launch last March 23.

Even though the buses were promoted to be faster in means of transportation which would reduce travel time by around 30 minutes, according to the MMDA, bus transport workers seem to doubt whether the operation would also benefit them.

“The biggest number of passengers we had today was during the noontime rush hour. We only has 20 passengers on the way to Ayala, then just one way back,” said Express bus conductor Jay Parisan, in a report from Jaymee Gamil of the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

Parisan added in the article that he usually makes P500 to P1000 daily, but now his income per day won’t even reach P300 because of fewer passengers that ride on board.

A bus driver from a different express bus said that he only got a tenth of his regular income compared to when he was driving a regular city bus, in a report from GMA.

The report added that because of this, many bus drivers are requesting to add more stops, especially in crowded areas.

The pilot test will run for a month and will operate with 50 buses – recognizable through the “E” stickers posted on their windshields – on a daily basis from 4AM to 10PM and will run on three different routes: Route E1 will be from Fairview-Ortigas-Ayala Avenue-Roxas Boulevard (in the Cultural Center of the Philippines parking area) with six stops in between with 20 bus units), Route E2 will be from Fairview-Ayala Avenue-Roxas Boulevard (in the Cultural Center of the Philippines parking area) with 4 stops in between with 10 bus units, and Route E3 will be from Fairview-Ayala MRT Station-SM Mall of Asia (MOA) with 3 stops in between with 20 bus units.

According to MMDA Chairman Francis Tolentino, the “express connect” buses will be allowed to use flyovers and underpasses as well as the traffic lanes, and LTFRB Chairman Winston Ginez added that the buses will also be installed with GPS, CCTV cameras for monitoring, and free wi-fi on-board.

The fares for the buses will be the same as ones charged by the regular air conditioned buses in the metro.

LTFRB plans to scrap some stopovers

LTFRB on the other hand is currently debating whether the Mall of Asia pick-up and drop-off point should be scrapped due to only a few passengers board the bus at that location, according to LTFRB Chairman Ginez in a report from The Philippine Star.

He said that the LTFRB wanted to make sure that both passengers and drivers & operators will benefit the project because at present, the project only benefits the passengers.

Netizens spark its pros and cons for “express connect” services

Days even before the “express connect” service launched, netizens on Twitter already expressed their reactions on this latest DOTC project.

Here are some of the positive remarks about the project:

And here are the not-so positive remarks about it:

FRUSTRATION: WHERE’S YOUR BREAKING POINT?

BENEATH THE SHEETS OF PAPER

By Jedd Francis De Luna

WE think of stress as a good motivator for us to excel and improve on our work or our task. But to some, stress can be considered as one big distraction and it often leads to frustration. But do we look at it as tension or do we see it as a big opening to a better solution?

Ever since I was a kid, I often get ‘good’ marks on my card, seldom got ‘great’ marks, and rarely got ‘excellent’ marks on it. My mom told me not to fear stress, especially in the tasks at school. She told me to take it as a challenge just like when she did back in her school to university days as a student. I always try but I’m not sure that my self-esteem was really that high to hold on to that saying to take stress – that man-eating monster whom I despise very much to just say “hey, come and get some,” and knock the stress off of me.

As the years go by, I always feel inferior to people. I’m more of a visionary, so to speak, which is why I tend to slack off. It’s because I’m too busy planning for the future that I often forget that I need to do something in the present so that I will be able to achieve it in the future. I’ve always considered myself to just leave it all to God: all my problems, stress, frustrations, but at some point, I seem to lack the ease to release the stress in me.

Someone once told me that with God, there is a two-way connection: You talk to Him through prayer, while He talks to you through His Word: the Bible. And for half a year when I was in second year college, I doubted that. I was anxious about Him and His existence, which is why I didn’t bother to really “communicate” with Him. In my mind I thought that was there really a point where things will be easier? I mean, surrender? And then what, do I get my problems solved? They don’t, do they?

NO, they don’t.

Talking to God, telling Him all your problems, and reading His Word won’t make any difference if first – you don’t do your part, and second – if you always think that when you put your faith in Christ, your life will never face any kind of storms at all. But that’s not how that goes. When we pray to God and ask Him to help us achieve a great score in our examination, we don’t just say ‘Amen’ and start playing games or slacking off. What do we do? We do our part. We study. We practice. We learn. We do anything that will help us in answering the exam. But why?

Steve Murrell said in his book, WikiChurch, that “Christianity does not promise a storm-free life. However, if we build our lives on biblical foundations, the storms of life will not destroy us. We cannot have lives that are storm-free, but we can become storm-proof.” Imagine that: a storm-proof life! I mean, yes, we will still face different problems, we will still commit different mistakes…the difference? How we handle these situations and how we face it.

Whenever I get frustrated, I usually pray. Prayer should always be our first priority, not our last-minute necessity. When we pray, it means that we’re strong. We are strong enough to admit that we can’t do this alone, that we need guidance from someone who can understand us, appreciate us, and make us strong.

Don’t forget to thank God for the frustration and stress! You might ask yourself, “Wait, what? Why?” Hold your horses and let me explain:

Living the Christian life is not difficult, it is IMPOSSIBLE. But do you know what’s amazing? I learned once more the real meaning of love and sacrifice, where in Jesus died for my sins, your sins, and everyone’s sins so that we may be free from bondage and hell. His relentless love for us is what makes this, for me, one great love story. Imagine that: God sent His only Son down here on earth to die for our past, our present, and our future sins. He corrected our errors, he fixed our faults, and he loved us (and still does) even when we feel that no one is there who is loving us.

And it is through our stress that we hold on to him more. But we should always remember that God should never be our last resort when it comes to problems. He should be the first one that we go to whether or not we’re in trouble. Before you eat? Praise Him; after you got an A+ in your midterms but got a C+ in your finals? Praise Him; lost a swimming match and placed last? Praise Him!

I realized what my problem was during months of doubt, anxiety, and depression: I never communicated with Him ever again. I was like the prodigal son in the book of Luke, wherein I ran away not knowing that what my Father was saying to me was right all along, but I dare not listen to Him. The LORD said in Joshua 1:5b (NIV) that “I will never leave you nor forsake you,” and added in Joshua 1:9 (NIV) “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.”

Picture taken from God’s Not Dead FB page
http://www.facebook.com/doyoubelievemovie

God commands us to be strong and courageous, He didn’t pleaded it to us. He promised us that He will be with us wherever we go and that He will never leave us, neither will He forsake us. And to show it to us, He gave His only son, Jesus, to die on the cross in Calvary for us to be cleansed of our sins, and three days later rose.

My anxiety is gone because God showed me His relentless love and now, I serve Him and share His love to others as well. Now, whenever I get stressed or frustrated with problems, I pray and communicate with God. He knows that I can’t fight this battle on my own and that I need His help.

So death, where’s your sting? Stress, where’s your sting? Frustration, where’s your sting?

For comments and suggestions, you may contact the author at jeddfrancis21@gmail.com