Lola Aabidah
How people experience the Philippine urban transportation system in 2030
Lola Aabidah retired just nearly a year ago after 45 years of government service. She didn’t want to be idle, so she joined the local mobility consultative committee in her neighborhood. As a member of the committee, she gets to provide the voice of the community in local and city-wide transportation decisions.
Lola Aabidah also convinced her daughter to help her set up a small vending stand near her home. She bakes and sells breakfast pastries and opens the small stand every morning. In the afternoons, she sells treats. Ice buko in hot weather; banana-cue in rainy weather. The school kids walking home from school usually buy out all her sales. She didn’t need much capital, and the permitting system was easy.
The stand keeps her in touch with the community. She likes the energy of the school kids. She also likes chatting with the other vendors in her area of the sidewalk specially set aside for street hawkers. She has one friend who sells flowers and decorative plants. Her friend bikes in every day from outside the city using the network of bike highways, her fresh flowers in her cargo bike.
Lola Aabidah keeps her stand closed on days of worship so she can make her way to her local mosque, the Masjid Batuintan. Sometimes her daughter accompanies her. Usually, she goes on her own. The mosques are conveniently close to where the transportation officials hold meetings with the consultative committees.
She can take the bus and transfer to an e-jeepney that gets her directly to the mosque. She has a bad knee, so she gets around with a walker, but she’s always given deferential treatment on public transport. The workers are very respectful, and there are convenient seats reserved for senior citizens and disabled persons. She also gets a substantial fare discount.
But Lola Aabidah prefers to take a shared taxi. (They used to be called FXs, mega taxis, or AV taxis.) While it takes a more direct route, it stops not at the mosque but at a nearby plaza. She enjoys the public space and likes the leisurely walk along the pedestrian-only street that connects the plaza to the Masjid Batuintan. Sometimes she goes a little earlier to meet her friends at the plaza, many of whom are also retired and also get around on canes, walkers, or even wheelchairs. Sometimes she talks with other members of the committee before the meetings. Often, younger friends come to seek her advice. The walk to the mosque, along the well-paved street, is perfect for thinking aloud about the future of her community and for deep conversations about life and faith.
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