Tag Archives: mrt

13
Apr

Ang matabang mama at si lolo Hulk

Posted by | Categories Journal | Tagged ,

Kanina sa MRT, habang nag-aantay sa paparating na tren, nasa harapan ko ang isang may katabaang lalaki. No, hindi kasing laki ni Arpee at ni Juned. Definitely mas malaki sa akin. Anyway, so yun, nagulat lang ako kasi kahit napakalaki nya, ang galing nyang sumingit ha. Pero I realized na hindi dahil sa bilis yun. Alam nya kung paano gamitin ang laki ng kanyang katawan.

Natatandaan nyo pa ba yung mga players ng Ginebra nung kapanahunan ni Jaworksi? Di ba di ganun katangkaran pero parang mga tangke ang katawan? Sina Locsin yun, saka Loyzaga. Subukan mong banggain yung mga yun. Goodluck.

So ganun siguro yung mama kanina. Magaling syang sumingit kasi peanuts sa kanya ang manbalya.

—

Nakaupo naman ako kanina, salamat sa kung sino. Katabi ko sa kanan ko ay isang mamang matanda na di ko alam kung maarte lang o may sakit. Naka gas mask kasi sya. Sa kaliwa yung mamang mataba (MM). Tapos may babae na nakatayo sa harap ni MM, kaya UMUSOG si MM pakaliwa. Sa kakarampot na piraso ng upuan naupo yung babae. Ayun, pilit na nagsumiksik yung babae. Kung tumayo si MM, isang tao pa ang pwedeng makaupo nang komportable, katabi yung babae na hindi na sana nagsumiksik.

So umandar na yung tren, at ako’y nagulat. Parang lumalaki yung balikat nung matandang nasa kanan ko. Naiipit ang kanang braso ko, muntik na ngang matigil ang daloy ng dugo eh. Pinakiramdaman ko nga baka kako si Incredible Hulk yung katabi ko. Lumalaki yung balikat nya pag bumibilis ang tren, bumabalik naman sa dati pag pabagal o huminto yung tren.

Sa pagitan ng babaeng nagsumiksik at nakasandal kay MM, at ng matandang Incredible Hulk, para akong de-latang napisa ng pison.

—

Nakarating naman ako sa Ayala Station na buo pa rin. Akala ko kasi madudurog ako sa tigas ni lolo. Buti naman hindi.

Pagdating sa Buendia Station, tumayo na ako at lumapit sa pinto, para agad akong makalabas. Siksikan kasi sa escalator, kasi makitid lang sya. Naiwang nakaupo sina lolo Hulk, babaeng nagsumiksik, at si MM. So pagdating sa istasyon, nagkumahog ang mga tao sa paglabas, at nagka bottleneck (naks) sa escalator. Pumila naman ako, at ako ay nabigla sapagkat nasa unahan ko si MM. Grabe ang galing talaga nung matabang yun.

Pagdating sa ikalawang escalator, umakyat na ako, kasi ayaw kong makasingit sya ulit sa pila ng turnstile. Ay grabe ang haba ng pila sa palabas na turnstile, kasi yung iba naka red X na naman (ibig sabihin out of order). At nakita ko na naman si MM, handang sumingit. Buti na lang dun sya sa mahabang pila napunta. Kung hindi, baka nilabas ko na ballpen ko at tinusok ko na sya.

—

Pero sa totoo lang, walang tatalo sa mga babae pagdating sa singitan. Pagdating sa MRT, ang mga babae nagiging Amasona. Pramis.

Tulad nung nangyari kahapon. Madalas akong naka iPod pag nasa MRT kasi naiirita ako sa nakakairitang paalala na palagi mo na lang maririnig sa mga istasyon ng MRT. Wala namang sumusunod. Tulad ng “huwag umapak sa dilaw na lines.” Goodluck. Ako lang yata ang di umaapak sa dilaw na lines eh.

Anyway, so kahapon maswerte ako at nakapwesto agad ako sa platform, pero syempre di ako nakatapak sa dilaw na lines. Makakapasok agad ako ng tren, sabi ko sa sarili. Pero ilang segundo lang, may nakatayo nang babae sa harap ko. (doh)

Isang example pa lang yan. Dapat yata magsuot ako ng sumbrero na may video camera, para marecord ko lahat ng mga pagsingit na ginagawa ng mga babae sa MRT. Hay naku, dapat wala nang segregation scheme kung ganyan din lang naman mangyayari.

13
Apr

Technology and the MRT

Posted by | Categories Byte | Tagged ,

My philosophy regarding technology is simple: technology should help us solve problems. If that technology is applied to a non-problem, then that is a waste of resources that should have been instead directed on real issues.

The MRT has three modes of entry-exit payment mechanisms. The first one, used since it started operating, uses magnetic cards/tickets. You can buy a single-journey ticket, or if you take the MRT regularly, you can get the stored-value ticket at one hundred pesos. During rush hours, the queue for purchase of tickets can get long. Also, these cards are technically not reloadable, and the maximum amount for the stored-value is one hundred pesos. Because of these issues, the MRT opened the possibility of using third-party payment mechanisms.

The second one, which is a third-party provided service, is the so-called Globe G-Pass, an implementation of RFID technology. You are given a chip enclosed in a circular case, and you tap the chip into a sensor attached to a turnstile (see how it works here). You can reload value via the reloading booths at MRT stations, or via Globe’s G-Cash mobile money solution.

There are inherent issues with this solution. First, not all turnstiles in all MRT stations have G-Pass sensors installed. On a rush hour, you need to know first what turnstile to queue up – it should have a sensor installed. You should know this beforehand. Second, the sensor must be online. Usually when it is offline, MRT personnel just tapes a sign to the sensor stating that it is offline. On a rush hour, you queue up to a turnstile with a G-Pass sensor, and it will be too late before you find out that the sensor is offline – you might have wasted around a minute or two on that. What if all sensors for that station are offline? Third, this solution would be more efficient if you are a Globe subscriber. While you can check your balance and reload at reloading stations, that would mean lining up (if there’s a line); it would be faster if you check your balance via text message, or reload via G-Cash. So if you are not a Globe subscriber – tough luck. Also, they should have instead employed the technology that the Japanese use – tap the phone! If you are careless, you might lose the chip.

The third solution (still experimental at the moment) employs m-codes (or 2-D barcodes). The service is called Juan Card, another prepaid solution. Here, you are sent an m-code, and to enter, you must point the m-code in your mobile phone screen to a sensor attached to the turnstile. As the use of this technology is not yet widespread, I cannot evaluate this solution completely, but some of the problems with G-Pass apply to Juan Card as well – limited sensor installs, long queues during rush hours, and unnecessarily complex loading solution per trip.

(There is another, low-tech solution called the Flash Pass, but I suggest you click on the link and read. It is relatively simple, low-tech, and prone to falsification, so there’s no need to discuss it.)

Again, technology should help us solve problems. In this case, what have we solved? It seems all the solutions are defeated by the fact that the wrong problem is addressed. The problem is that the MRT can no longer efficiently and sufficiently serve the volume of passengers during rush hours, and RFIDs and m-codes will not solve that. Unless they can improve on that area, these technologies are basically useless.

—

Do you like math? If so, let me give you a problem.

Here are some data to use:
* Car/Train capacity
* Train availability requirement – how many trainsets operate at given time
* Ridership data – most recent is for last year

Do the math. Like how much people are they packing for each train set, etc.

13
Apr

What should be done with the MRT?

Posted by | Categories Ink | Tagged ,

Previously on Byte, I discussed the application of RFID and m-code in the MRT, and their limited success and the fact that they are useless. In short, I said that this was a classic case of technology not solving anything.

Reader Jeff asked what solution can I offer? The reason my reply to his question is posted on this section is that the solution does not lie with technology. But first, a disclaimer: I am not an expert on transport technology, and on the transportation industry in general. I regularly take the MRT, and thus my opinions are based on what I experience everyday.

When the MRT began operating in 1999, the maximum fare was thirty pesos (that is, from North Avenue Station up to Taft Station). The riding public complained that the fare was too steep; then President Joseph Estrada gave in, and the maximum fare was reduced by half. Still reeling from the Asian financial crisis, the MRT Consortium balked at the price reduction, and the original build-operate-transfer (BOT) agreement was revised to become build-lease-transfer (BLT) agreement.

And thus the current state of the MRT.

As you can see, the effects of a populist decision made a decade ago is manifesting itself. Looking at the MRT ridership data, the MRT cannot cope up with the increase. The monthly revenues that the MRT earns go to maintenance and wages. And since the government guarantees monthly payment to MRT Consortium via subsidies, the MRT has no money to get new trains to keep up with the volume.

The solution is economic, political, and social in nature.

To cope up with the volume and to operate optimally (to reduce breakage), the MRT needs to augment its fleet. To do this, the MRT must have the necessary funds. To get new funds, the MRT must be allowed to set the fare price according to economic realities.

However, the weird nature of the BLT leads to more questions: who should buy new trains – the owner (MRTC) or the one leasing (the DOTC)? The MRTC will not buy new trains, since the lease payments are just enough to pay out loans taken for the construction of the MRT. The DOTC cannot buy new trains not only because it has no funds and the revenues are just enough for maintenance, it does not own the MRT itself. The goverment can opt to buy out the MRT Consortium, but that would cost us billions of pesos.

Note that the government is subsidizing the operation of the MRT, by shouldering half of the real fare per passenger. Someone said this is unfair to Filipino taxpayers who don’t take the MRT – like those from the Visayas and Mindanao. We are technically buying out MRTC, only on a monthly basis.

And then we have to factor in the displacement effect that a fare increase would cause. I submit that even increasing the fare to maximum Php30 is more economical – it would be less than what you would pay when taking a airconditioned bus from North Avenue up to Taft Avenue. At the same time, the MRT is faster; the traffic along EDSA has not improved, contrary to Bayani Fernando’s Metro Gwapo propaganda. After all, you are paying for convenience and speed when taking the MRT.

Ultimately, the solution is political. Basically, what do we want to do with the MRT? If we can’t even agree on an answer to that question, then no major improvement can be made with the MRT.

UPDATE (03/31/2009):

The government, through Development Bank of the Philippines and Land Bank of the Philippines, acquires 56% of MRTC, and it intends to acquire up to 76%.

News reports say that the MRT is still BOT, but I find it weird that it is the government who is operating the MRT while MRTC owns the MRT. And with the government paying an annual subsidy of Php 5.7 billion, I think it is BLT.

27
Mar

Technology and the MRT

Posted by | Categories Byte | Tagged ,

My philosophy regarding technology is simple: technology should help us solve problems. If that technology is applied to a non-problem, then that is a waste of resources that should have been instead directed on real issues.

The MRT has three modes of entry-exit payment mechanisms. The first one, used since it started operating, uses magnetic cards/tickets. You can buy a single-journey ticket, or if you take the MRT regularly, you can get the stored-value ticket at one hundred pesos. During rush hours, the queue for purchase of tickets can get long. Also, these cards are technically not reloadable, and the maximum amount for the stored-value is one hundred pesos. Because of these issues, the MRT opened the possibility of using third-party payment mechanisms.

The second one, which is a third-party provided service, is the so-called Globe G-Pass, an implementation of RFID technology. You are given a chip enclosed in a circular case, and you tap the chip into a sensor attached to a turnstile (see how it works here). You can reload value via the reloading booths at MRT stations, or via Globe’s G-Cash mobile money solution.

There are inherent issues with this solution. First, not all turnstiles in all MRT stations have G-Pass sensors installed. On a rush hour, you need to know first what turnstile to queue up – it should have a sensor installed. You should know this beforehand. Second, the sensor must be online. Usually when it is offline, MRT personnel just tapes a sign to the sensor stating that it is offline. On a rush hour, you queue up to a turnstile with a G-Pass sensor, and it will be too late before you find out that the sensor is offline – you might have wasted around a minute or two on that. What if all sensors for that station are offline? Third, this solution would be more efficient if you are a Globe subscriber. While you can check your balance and reload at reloading stations, that would mean lining up (if there’s a line); it would be faster if you check your balance via text message, or reload via G-Cash. So if you are not a Globe subscriber – tough luck. Also, they should have instead employed the technology that the Japanese use – tap the phone! If you are careless, you might lose the chip.

The third solution (still experimental at the moment) employs m-codes (or 2-D barcodes). The service is called Juan Card, another prepaid solution. Here, you are sent an m-code, and to enter, you must point the m-code in your mobile phone screen to a sensor attached to the turnstile. As the use of this technology is not yet widespread, I cannot evaluate this solution completely, but some of the problems with G-Pass apply to Juan Card as well – limited sensor installs, long queues during rush hours, and unnecessarily complex loading solution per trip.

(There is another, low-tech solution called the Flash Pass, but I suggest you click on the link and read. It is relatively simple, low-tech, and prone to falsification, so there’s no need to discuss it.)

Again, technology should help us solve problems. In this case, what have we solved? It seems all the solutions are defeated by the fact that the wrong problem is addressed. The problem is that the MRT can no longer efficiently and sufficiently serve the volume of passengers during rush hours, and RFIDs and m-codes will not solve that. Unless they can improve on that area, these technologies are basically useless.

—

Do you like math? If so, let me give you a problem.

Here are some data to use:
* Car/Train capacity
* Train availability requirement – how many trainsets operate at given time
* Ridership data – most recent is for last year

Do the math. Like how much people are they packing for each train set, etc.