Manila: To get a better grasp of the commuter’s sentiments concerning taking the public transport to work , an online petition is calling on government officials to take the bus or train at least once a month.

An appeal posted on the change.org, urged President Benigno Aquino III “to require all public officials to take public transit once a month.”

The petition signing was set in motion by concerned citizen Dinna Dayao who called on government officials to take public transportation so that they can personally experience what it is like to be without a car to take them to work.

Most, if not all government officials either drive themselves to work in their red plate vehicles or are driven by their chauffeur to their destinations for the day.

Dayao’s appeal comes with a document where people can affix their signatures.

Commuters in Philippines, particularly in Metro Manila, had been perennially stuck in traffic-clogged main thoroughfares. The trains servicing the metropolis are already bursting at the seams with riders during peak hours.

According to Director General Arsenio Balisacan of the National Economic Development Authority, the Philippines is losing as much as P2.4 billion (Dhs 203,561,060) per day in potential income as a result of traffic congestion problem and lost productivity.

“Eighty per cent of Metro Manila residents—including children, the elderly, and persons with disabilities— take public transportation.

“Yet the dismal state of public transit doesn’t allow them mobility with safety and civility. They suffer long lines, squeeze into jam-packed trains and rickety buses and jeeps, and endure long travel times,” Dayao wrote in her appeal.

She also observed that the government seems to be taking the wrong tack on solving the problem. “The government puts all its efforts in trying to solve traffic, but not in solving public transportation. We keep building roads and flyovers that only encourage more people to drive their cars. But we don’t invest in facilities that make it easier for transit riders to get from point A to point B.”