Richard Gomez in deleted post laments EDSA heavy traffic, proposes opening up exclusive busway

Its tweet got over 11,000 likes, 2,200 retweets, and 180 comments as of writing.

Other social media users agreed, urging him to take the public transport so he could experience the commuters' daily woes.

"Mga mayayaman talaga lakas maka reklamo samantalang mga komportable mga sinasakyan," one user said.

"Or better yet sumakay siya ng MRT kung gusto niya nang mabilis. He must experience the daily life of commuters," another user said.

"Nakalimutan mo na gaano karaming tao at gaano kahirap?" another one said. "Kung umasta ka parang ikaw lang nahihirapan ah."

More critical netizens called him "out of touch."

The EDSA busway is reserved for public utility buses, emergency vehicles like ambulances and firetrucks, and marked government vehicles responding to emergencies.

In November 2023, the Department of Transportation noted that the country's top officials—the President, Vice President, Senate President, Speaker of the House of Representatives, and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court—may use the lane “to provide assistance in the performance of their duties.” The officials have to inform the DOTr ahead of time, and once approved, the plate number will be given to traffic enforcers.

At the time, DOTr Command and Control Operations Center Chief Charlie Del Rosario told CNN Philippines' The Source that they pertain to those “performing duties and responsibilities within the busway” like construction, security, janitorial, and maintenance services. But he said there are special cases, like when the Department of Social Welfare and Development needed to respond to a disaster.

Authorities have apprehended unauthorized vehicles passing through the bus lane.

Unauthorized usage of the EDSA bus lane incurs a P5,000 fine on the first offense; a P10,000 fine, one-month suspension of driver’s license, and a road safety seminar on the second offense; a P20,000 fine and one-year suspension of driver’s license on the third offense; and P30,000 fine and cancellation of driver’s license on the fourth offense.

Agot Isidro's take

Actress Agot Isidro also took to X the traffic not just in EDSA but in Metro Manila as a whole.

"Nakakabaliw ang traffic sa Metro Manila," Isidro said. "Kaya gusto ko sa probinsya."

Commenters, however, were sympathetic toward her situation, wishing her well.

Some users also noted how living in the province is much more manageable in terms of traffic.

"We transferred here to Angeles City, Pampanga 10 years ago and never looked back or wanted to live in the metro again," one user said. "Less traffic, cleaner air, big malls, parks, awesome restaurants and cafes! Yup, better po talaga dito."

Worst traffic congestion

Heavy traffic has long beset the capital, especially the 23.8-kilometer EDSA.

Data provider TomTom, in its 2023 Traffic Index, showed that Metro Manila had the worst traffic congestion in a metro area among 387 cities worldwide in 2023.

According to the study, motorists in the capital spent an average travel time of 25 minutes and 30 seconds per 10 kilometers last year. This is 50 seconds longer than it took to cover the same distance in 2022.

Throughout the year, they spent 240 hours on the road, 117 hours of which were spent crawling through rush-hour traffic at an average speed of 19 kilometers per hour. This translates to four days and 21 hours in traffic, an amount of time that TomTom said can be used to read 48 books.

According to Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA)'s 2023 annual report on average daily traffic, there are an average of 3.6 million vehicles along major thoroughfares in the capital. Of that number, there are 1.6 million motorcycles and 1.5 million private cars.

Commonwealth Avenue had the highest volume with about 407,900 vehicles daily, followed by EDSA with 407,300, and Quezon Avenue with 312,000.

Last April, the DOTr and MMDA said they were studying to put a motorcycle lane on EDSA to address the traffic situation.