Transport group sounds alarm on road crashes along EDSA Busway
MANILA, Philippines — A transport group on Friday called attention to reported cases of road crashes along the EDSA Busway Carousel as it urged the national government to prioritize the upgrade and eventual expansion of the bus rapid transit system to avoid fatal crashes later on.
In a statement sent to reporters, the Move as One transport coalition urged the government to investigate the causes of said road crashes and to invest in measures to raise the safety, quality, accessibility and capacity of the EDSA Busway so road users arrive safely and efficiently at their destinations.
This comes ahead of November 20, the annual World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims, which the coalition said was an "opportunity to pause and remember all people who have been killed and seriously injured on the world’s roads."
“'Accident' and 'road crash' are often used to describe the same event, but the latter is the more accurate term. Accidents can't be reasonably foreseen or avoided, while a 'crash' on the other hand is the result of 'choices made and risks disregarded,'" the coalition said.
"No one should die or get injured in preventable road crashes on or near the EDSA Busway."
In 2020, 8,017 people, or 22 persons a day died in a “transport accident” in the Philippines, according to figures from the Philippine Statistics Authority.
From November 11, 2020 to November 2, 2022, 6 people died and 13 have been injured in 9 road crashes involving the buses themselves or vehicles crashing into the concrete barriers separating the EDSA Busway from private and other public transport, the coalition also said citing media reports.
The coalition pointed out that a project to upgrade and expand the EDSA Busway had "a relatively low investment cost and short implementation timeframe compared to rail development" and should be the top mass transit priority of the Marcos administration.
It also called for the stricter implementation of the Anti-Drunk and Drugged Driving Act of 2013 as it pointed out that the deadliest crash along the EDSA Busway last February 18 involved a driver under the influence of alcohol, resulting in deaths of three people.
"Such measures include building at-grade crosswalks, reducing speed limits or installing traffic lights with countdown timers near these crosswalks, widening the busway lanes, using safer barriers, introducing BRT-ready vehicles with doors on the correct side, and providing proper training for bus drivers," it said.
"Making only small and piecemeal investments in the EDSA Busway, apart from being wasteful, has already cost people their lives."
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