Moving people has been one of man’s basic needs. In this day and age of Airbus A380’s, space travel and hybrid fuel technology, people in south of Manila can (or have to) move around via a super light rail transport system (SLRT).
An SLRT is basically a wooden cart with steel ball bearings for wheels. They run along the railways of PNR and are truly eco-friendly because they are powered efficiently by the legs of the “motorman”. They can accommodate as many as ten passengers.
I call them SLRT because they are super-lightweight. When a real PNR train approaches, they have to be literally lifted off the tracks to give way. That is a matter of survival. When two SLRT’s approach each other on one and the same track, the one with lesser load gives way. That is an unwritten rule.
Some say that necessity is the mother of innovation. Or that the SLRT exhibits Filipino ingenuity. I say this more exhibits the government’s ineptitude, if not, lack of proper focus on the needs of the greater masses of Filipinos.
Not very distant, the construction of the SkyWay is on-going. No doubt, this is good. But some also raise the question: How can the SkyWay directly impact on the greater number of Filipinos who do not have cars? A case of skewed priorities given our meager resources?
Ah! this is another story.
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