DAY One of the “Rush Hour Commute” ended with Team MRT winning the race from Trinoma North Avenue in Quezon City to Taft Avenue in Pasay.
Team MRT is composed of Amy Rañola and Penelope Endozo of the Philippine Daily Inquirer (PDI) and Janie Octia of INQUIRER.net.
The Rush Hour Commute is a race composed of four teams of volunteers taking a commuter train, bus, jeepney, taxi or car in various parts of Metro Manila at 8 a.m. on August 4-6.
The idea is to compare the costs and determine how long it takes for ordinary Filipinos to travel from one point to another during the rush hour. Day Two of the race will be from Santolan in Pasig to C.M. Recto in Manila while Day Three will be a commuter race from Baclaran in Paranaque to Monumento in Caloocan.
Team MRT suffered delays due to the large volume of people queuing at the North Avenue Station during Monday morning traffic. People swelled at the MRT ticket booths as passengers started trickling in. The team even had to leave a teammate behind since she did not make it to the starting line in time for the race. In the end, Team MRT still managed to finish first. Each team member spent P15 for the trip.
Team CAR, composed of Elvira Mata and Steph Asuncion of PDI and Alex Villafania of INQUIRER.net, finished second despite slight delays in leaving the starting point. Team CAR also stopped to gas up toward the end of the race.
Team TAXI, made up of Grig Montegrande and Kiko Gopez of PDI and Lawrence Casiraya of INQUIRER.net, had the most difficult time as they tried to hail a cab under the rain from SM North Station. Team TAXI was only able to get a cab more than 30 minutes after the race started. By the time they were finally able to hire a cab, Team MRT had already reached the finish line. As they braved Edsa traffic, members of Team TAXI said they had a lively discussion with their cab driver Jojo who was ranting about the effects of the oil price hike. Team TAXI spent a total of P180 for the trip.
Team BUS, composed of Iris Desvarro and Nita del Rosario of PDI and and Izah Morales of INQUIRER.net, was the last team to arrive at the destination. Team BUS took two hours to get from Trinoma in Quezon City to Taft Avenue in Pasay, listening to old songs from the bus as they plied the Edsa route. Members of the team spent P40 each to get to their destination.
Accounts of the trip, photos and videos of the volunteers are posted on the Rush Hour Commute site (www.inquirer.net/rushhourcommute). The results will also be summarized in the Talk of the Town section of the Philippine Daily Inquirer on Aug. 10.
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