Makati City is not a very friendly place. If you are caught there by 5pm, you cannot get any ride anymore as all public vehicles are full to the brim. With so much resources, the city hall should provide shuttle buses that would ferry people from end to end of Ayala avenue and Buendia. It is so unfair that there are private vehicles with only a driver and yet people have to stand for half an hour by the roadsides waiting for a ride.
In Manila at least, there are plenty of jeepneys going into many directions. But here in Makati, in the center, you can only either go to Taft avenue or to Edsa. There are jeepney rides to Zapote and Guadalupe but they are almost always full. and it takes many rides to go home if you take that route.
This is where i believe that we should not phase out the jeepneys. They serve a very good purpose.
Makati should be a friendlier city though. With so much resources in her hands. it is the richest city in the Philippines, isn't she? But when i see women and men walking along Reposo street, or Buendia waiting, walking or running to catch a ride, my heart flips over.
I have noticed also that even jeepney drivers have some quirks. When they know that a passenger is not working or living in Makati, they don't bother to answer right away questions about directions. They act nonchalant as if the passenger is a provinciana or provinciano. Courtesy is not in their lips or brains.
I think the friendliest city is one that allows us to be mobile without any hassle. The residents are helpful to strangers and provide information readily. There is no room for people to be punished with snobbery or plain incapacity of the local government when the aim is just to enjoy working or promenading in a city.
Now we have to take refuge in a coffeeshop, just waiting for the traffic to subside and for an empty jeepney to be available.
“A journey is best measured in friends, rather than miles.” –Tim Cahill
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