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Expressway experience

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As part of a recent family trip to Metro Manila so my wife and kids could finally have face-to-face time their parents and grandparents, respectively, after more than three years, we went on a road trip to Baguio City.

The 250ish-kilometer drive used to take anywhere from 6-8 hours, but because of a newly completed network of expressways, it is now possible in 4-5 hours. We took the North Luzon Expressway (NLEX), Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEX), and the Tarlac-Pangasinan-La Union Expressway (TPLEX), which are all proper expressways that have toll fees, radar enforced speed limits and lay-bys for emergencies.

Since the vehicle we squeezed into for the trip had RFID stickers that made toll collection a breeze, I couldn’t really keep track of the toll fees we paid for that trip. However, a bit of research says that the total toll spend for a trip from Balintawak to Baguio is around PhP 717 one-way. If you come to think of it, that’s just a few liters of gas in these days, and considering the savings in time along with the safer and relatively stress-free driving environment, I’d say it was worth it.

I’ve been on the NLEX numerous times, and the SCTEX as well, but I think this was our first time on the TPLEX. We don’t really go to Baguio that often, so I’m not sure just how new it is. Anyway, the expressway drive was definitely more convenient than having to pass through all the crowded towns and cities filled with tricycles, stray dogs, crazy drivers, jay walkers and even the usual marketplace traffic zones.

If you come to think of it, the hardest part of driving in the expressway was probably sticking to the 100kmh speed limit. It was so tempting to go a little bit faster in order to get to the destination sooner, especially since nobody was weaving in and out of traffic and everyone was moving in a safe and efficient manner, but the limit is the limit and father-in-law kept reminding me that they enforced it with radar guns.

Bumping up the speed limit to 120kph max and 80kph min should be achievable but I don’t use it a lot so 100kph wasn’t really a problem for me.

One thing I noticed with expressway driving is that people were more behaved the further we went from the NCR. A bigger majority of drivers kept to the speed limit and stayed in their lanes the further north we went. On the way back to Metro Manila, drivers became more erratic and weren’t as well behaved as we got closer to the big city and the number of lanes expanded.

On the relatively narrower TPLEX, which essentially only 2 lanes and a shoulder, most cars just stayed on the speed limit and everyone moved in unison. There was less weaving or jockeying for position because everyone was moving at the speed limit. Since there were no slow cars to overtake, everyone who drove at the speed limit didn’t have to worry about other cars. A few speeding cars would overtake every now and then, but it was mostly worry-free driving where the biggest concern was not falling asleep while behind the wheel.

Here in the province, there are no closed or managed expressways. We only have highways where there are no rules, no speed limits, and anyone can do anything on or along the road. Those are not as safe and efficient, but we don’t have a choice because I don’t think we are ready to pay toll fees and obey speed limits yet. A developer who invests in an expressway, say from Sagay to Hinobaan, or even just Bacolod to Kabankalan, might end up losing their shirt due to lack of paying customers.

If we cannot have a managed expressway, the next best thing would be a highway where traffic laws are strictly enforced. Something like that was my hope for the Bacolod-Silay Airport Access Road, but we have all seen how chaotic it quickly become. There are no speed limits, any kind of vehicle can use it, from farm tractors to tricycles, and nobody knows anything about proper lane use. Aside from that, there seems to be no master planning so land developers can add access roads anywhere, with the worst example being one access road placed right at the apex of a high-speed corner of the so-called highway. How either the local or national government allowed such an unsafe travesty will always boggle my mind.

The stress and hassle free expressway driving experience that turned out to be achievable in the Philippines will now haunt me during my daily chaotic drive from Silay to Bacolod and back. It’s just a 14-kilometer drive, but it could be so much safer and more efficient if there were rules and limits that everybody followed.

I guess I’ll just have to schedule another trip to Baguio next time I’m in Luzon so I can remind myself that such an experience is still possible in this country.*

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