Gen Z commuters want a government that understands their struggles
Every week, PhilSTAR L!fe explores issues and topics from the perspectives of different age groups, encouraging healthy but meaningful conversations on why they matter. This is Generations by our Gen Z columnist Angel Martinez.
In his magnum opus The Divine Comedy, Dante speaks of nine concentric circles of hell, each representing a kind of sin with a corresponding sanction. Here in Metro Manila, we only have one, with a punishment just as severe: EDSA during rush hour.
Moving along our main thoroughfare has always been inefficient and inaccessible, no matter how much we call to God or the government. With over 400,000 vehicles passing daily, congestion is inevitable despite car-centric roads and regulations. Commuters face compounded struggles: from winding lines in the sweltering heat to cramped spaces in outdated vehicles. Although rail-based transit is meant to be a faster alternative, there is little connectivity, meaning multiple transfers are required to get from the station to the school or workplace.
Thankfully, these issues are said to be addressed through an extensive rehabilitation of EDSA starting June 13th. Government mandates include digging up 200 kilometers of northbound and southbound lanes and installing a new layer of concrete and asphalt—an endeavor that will take around two years to complete. How this is meant to alleviate our existing traffic conditions, we can’t exactly tell right now.
“Previous administrations have always applied a piecemeal approach to EDSA. It’s never been this complete of an overhaul,” Dennis Coronacion, chair of the University of Santo Tomas’ Political Science department, told PhilSTAR L!fe. He mentions a couple of factors behind this delayed response: fear of possible backlash, a lack of political will, and even budget shortages and misallocations despite yearly tax collections.
Today's rehab is transpiring right before the ASEAN Summit, which the country will be hosting in 2026. Is this all that's needed to happen for the administration to take action? After this short-term event, what is the long-term vision for EDSA, minus the roads’ new material?
More importantly, how will commuters endure the traffic that comes with two years of reconstruction? Politicians and pundits alike have suggested a myriad of solutions, ranging from night-only shifts to a complicated odd-even scheme. But, what lies beyond these band-aid solutions? Will authorities live up to their lofty promises of additional MRT cars or exclusive lanes for alternative transport? Can’t they also compel schools and offices to return to remote or hybrid arrangements in the meantime?
Unfortunately, urban mobility has never been a government priority.
“It’s shocking, considering how many of our major life changes are shaped by our public transport system: where we choose to work and how, where we live, and where we study,” Alyssa Belda, urban mobility advocate and convenor of the Make It Safer Movement, told L!fe in a mix of English and Filipino. “It’s also reflective of our leadership because it determines our access to employment, education, and other key social services.”
The only plausible explanation is that key decision-makers are exempted from the plight of the ordinary commuter. More often than not, we’re talking about able-bodied men, who only ever shuttle to and from work and home or make use of paid facilities like the Metro Manila Skyway. You just don’t see anyone in positions of power rushing from the terminal and up several flights of stairs to clock in, or praying that a skip train passes by Araneta Center-Cubao station.
“When our officials fail to create policies that are in line with social realities, it creates this feeling of frustration—like they don’t really listen to or see us,” Coronacion says. “It’s not hard to understand the struggles that commuters have to endure every day. I’ve been a private car user for a while but all I have to do is look outside my window.”
For as long as our comfort and convenience remain an afterthought, our quality of life suffers. In 2024, Manila commuters lost about 127 hours driving in rush hour annually, amounting to P3.5 billion in losses per day and almost P1.27 trillion each year.
Before we even start our day, we’re ridden with anxiety and frustration, which could lead to lower job satisfaction and poorer mental health over time. By the time we get home, we’re too fatigued to do anything else, which upsets the work-life balance Gen Z strives to uphold.
How are we supposed to enrich our inner lives or cultivate the communities we need when we only have the energy to doomscroll?
Hopefully, fixing EDSA’s pavements paves the way for transformative change. Members of Gen Z now explore other means to get from point A to point B, whether it’s for sustainability, affordability, or community reasons. We see it in the number of running and biking clubs that have emerged, and the number of TikTok users regularly going on hot girl walks (myself included).
“A good metric for an inclusive and effective transport system is when we start to see these diverse types of independent commuters, all making use of our services. A marker of its efficiency is its accessibility,” Belda shares.
This will have to come from leaders who stand in solidarity with the ordinary Filipinos.
Recently, Department of Transportation Secretary Vince Dizon was lauded for joining the Move as One Coalition in traversing five kilometers of EDSA, to get a taste of what commuters endure daily. Belda also singles out Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte’s GORA Lane project, which improves the network of active and public transport services.
“It’s easy for government officials to say that they get where their constituents are coming from, but to create truly holistic and inclusive urban solutions, they have to try commuting themselves,” Coronacion suggests.
Will this even happen in our lifetime? I’d like to think so. To wish for a walkable city, where everything is five minutes away and free public transport is as safe as it is efficient, might be too tall an order on this side of the world. But if we could get peaceful coexistence among cars and commuters, that would already be heaven on earth.
Generations by Angel Martinez appears weekly at PhilSTAR L!fe.
