Transportation Math

The latest round of oil price hikes has made me do something I wouldn’t ordinarily do: take public transportation. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not that I think commuting is beneath me, but having gotten used to driving myself around, it has been quite some time since I’ve taken public transpo within the city. If ever I had to, I often took cabs. It’s really just so much more convenient….

Well, since last nights increase finally tipped gas prices over sixty bucks, I decided to give up using my car whenever I go to the clinic in Cubao. After all, I figured it was not that difficult  to get to Cubao from Paranaque anyway. Before the prices went up, I would only be saving about 50-80 pesos if I took the bus rather than the car.  Not really that bad a price to pay for convenience, comfort and feeling safe during the trip. However, now that I stop and think about it, because gas prices are so high, taking the car to Cubao has truly ceased being cost-efficient, especially since I don’t earn a fixed income at the clinic. As a psychologist, I don’t take in a standard salary, rather I’m limited to a consultation fee depending on the number of clients I see. Given that there are days when I only see one client, my fees are dispensed completely in gas and toll fees, not to mention the wear-and-tear of the car.

I have to admit: I was pleasantly surprised by my experience today. I remember how much difficulty I used to have back in college when I had to commute daily to U.P. For one, wala pang mga shuttle nun! Or at least it was limited to behind Landmark. Today, there are even more “formal” terminals for this supposedly illegal service. Secondly, I applaud the Filipino public for learning the value of lining up! I remember how people would madly scramble up the bus when it approached in the Sucat tollgate before. Now, people show some degree of respect for the person in front of them. The MRT was a different story though…there I think lining up was limited to buying your ticket. Speaking of the MRT, even that has changed, apparently. Not too long ago my friend Janine was laughing at me because I had not known that males and females had separate compartments ont he train. Malay ko ba, the last time I took it wala pa nun! While the transferring from one service to another, and having to walk some distances either under the sun or the light rain was the negative side of my journey, as a whole, it went better than I had expected it. The greatest thing about it was not having to sit in the car stuck in traffic!

So on the way home, I did some mental computations (yes, I did math in my head!) and realized that if I take the trike from my home to the shuttle station, the shuttle to Ayala and the MRT from there to Cubao, I’d be spending about Php 174.00 to and from the clinic. That’s even passing through the Skyway! If I took the car, travelling approximately 50 km to and from the clinic would be about 3.5 liters of gas, which is already 200+ pesos, plus regular toll rates at 48 pesos per entry, that would mean I saved a total of Php 133.99 (okay, I have to admit, I used the calculator for that last figure!). Not only did I save some money, having to walk and lug my expanding butt around the city perhaps cost me a couple hunderd calories! How’s that for benefits

Besides the financial saving on my personal level, I think one major contribution my decision made benefited  the environment. As my collague put it, I was one  less car on the road. I suppose we, as a nation, can make that positive contribution to a greener earth by giving up one day of using the car by either carpooling or taking public transpo. I may be no genius, but I think this CAN make a difference. 

On the other hand, as another one of my colleagues jokingly put it, one less car on the road means one more body in the MRT…which translates to a more crowded ride! Our discussion evolved to while having one less car on the road, one more jeep would have to emerge, as more people commuted. As such, traffic will increase again, like it used to be before more people used to drive.

So at the end of the day, you do the math…what is the best equation for solving our woes with the oil price hikes, traffic, and sardine-packed MRT’s?