A little walking is good for them.

I should point out that our guards are quite good in guiding our pedestrians

the number of vehicles going into campus is directly proportionate to number of students. (maybe 85% to 90% of students use their own vehicle to/from school?) we can only reduce the number of vehicles if we reduce the number of students. there are already groups of students who use car pools.

the high number of vehicles is a given that the school need to accept and work around with. just as ateneo sitting right beside miriam, the overpass right before ateneo and katipunan is just one long straight road are also givens.

Has it also occurred to you that there may also be just too many cars?

my view is the main problem in all of these is simple – there is not enough parking spaces for all the cars that pick up AGS students.

the staggered dismissal times has helped unload volume but even with it there are now longer delays, above.

many parents who have posted here who were previous CPRs have said they have raised the problem of traffic and not enough parking spaces with ateneo admin in previous years. the same problems have been mentioned last school year and this school year the school has not done anything about these problems.

no new parking spaces were opened up for us. the new traffic scheme may have moved the volume of vehicles out of the pick-up/drop off points , but this was just moved to the football field parking lots. in other words with no changes and additions, what ateneo has done is take the problem from one place but just moved it to another.

i hope it does not happen – the next accident might not occur at the drop-off/pick up points but it might happen at the football fields parking spaces.

cars that used to be parked in the side of irwin theater and that area where amiel died are now all crammed into the parking spaces beside the football fields – they are now double parked on both sides of the road.

2. remove traffic situations where vehicles cross each other’s paths. this is what is causing the bumper to bumper traffic inside the campus and the reason why it is hard to get in and out of the campus.

the worst is the one near gate 2 right after the checkpoint where 8 vehicular flows converge, well bump into each other: 1 from the outside going straight to matheson, 2 from the outside turning right to AGS, 3 from the school bus parking lot going to matheson, 4 on matheson going the other way turning left to AGS, 5 om matheson exiting the campus turning right, 6 vehicles coming from the football fields parking area going to the road beside katipunan, 7 same roadway turning left going to AGS, 8 on road beside katipunan going to AGS.

then an other convergence point occurs just near it – the exit point from the irwin theater parking areas where at least 5 vehicular flows converge. 1 on the parking area exiting to the matheson (mostly cars without stickers), 2 on the parking area exiting the campus through the football field parking area, 3 on the aprking area turning right to matheson, 4 vehicles on matheson coming from the college area turning right to the football parking field parking areas and 5 on same road going straight on matheson to go to the AGS parking area.

3. make all cars coming from AGS (irwin theater) who wants to exit the campus to turn right on matheson and exit the campus through gate 3. this will dramatically decongest gate 2. also exiting at gate 3 makes more sense since the u-turn slot on katipunan is nearer at gate 3. they need to widen or add lanes on the exit roads at gate 3.

4. in fact make all campus roads a one-way traffic, counter-clockwise</strong or make it clockwise. this will make navigation much easier and traffic management simpler. will need to consult traffic experts on what is best here – clockwise or counter clockwise. will probably need to build more or widen some roads for this scheme to work.

view pictures here and related topic: http://wawam.wordpress.com/2009/06/22/impossible-traffic-at-the-ateneo-grade-school/

it feels like the people who thought of the new traffic scheme thought only of what they will do in front of the AGS but did not look at the rest of the traffic situation.

it is very ill-conceived and not well thought out. i do not think ateneo consulted professionals on this matter.

Until I find someone who can really help us with this please bear with me with my rantings.

I really can’t find any sense in the all other lanes should be moving lanes and only the lane at the curb is for loading and unloading. Imagine the gasoline and smog that results. and the campus will be like a slow moving raceway na paikot ikot ang mga kotse. And since hindi pwede magdala ng cellphones sa AGS there is no way for the persons piccking up students to know kung nandun na yung susunduin nila and kailangan mo umikot at pagnakita mo na yung susunduin mo iikot ka ulit para dun ka sa innermost lane magsusundo. at pag hindi mo nakita agad, iikot ka ulit kung ilang beses. dun pa lang obvious na magsisikip ang traffic sa llob na lane at sa labas na rin dahil wala naman kugar pumarada para maglakad nalang para sunduin ang bata.

if boys can bring cellphones, then they can call/text their sundo para alam na nandun na sila or go to where their car is. Another alternative, AGS can put up texting stations para ma ka text yung bata na pwede na sila daanan sa inner lane nung sundo para hindi parang procession and mga kotse na paikot ikot sa campus para tingnan kung nandun na yung susunduin. 4 or 5 texting stations should be able to ease traffic. kahit may pisong bayad ok lang yun siguro. better than wasting gas and polluting the air.

The staggering of dismissal does not help because the times overlap because of the it takes for all the boys from the earlier dismissal time to be picked up.
Dati an hour or so after dismissal maluwag na ang traffic at parking. ngayon there is traffic the whole day starting 11am. wala pa AHS nyan.

actually, part of the problem is public info dissemination ng mga pinaggagawa ni bayani at ng mmda sa labas. good, they try to address the probelm the best way they know how but if we do not know na ginawa yun it leads to confusion. lalo na yung mga plano na mag u-turn biglang iba na pala ang lugar ng u turn.

buti sila may ‘wang-wang’ at bawal ma traffic.

Bayani should be there, he and his minions caused the traffic jam in the first place. That man does not seem to know what he is doing. Puro off-the-cuff ang solutions, no thinking through. And he wants to be president? ^&&^$&()*&%#@%^

—

If you read today’s paper, that pig-headed Fernando is saying the schools should adjust, as usual, siya lang ang tama, lahat ng iba mali. I hope he gets a 0 when he runs for president.

Impossible Traffic At Katipunan

It’s in the newspapers. No less than Bayani had to go to Katipunan to see the chaos created by the new traffic and loading unloading scheme of ADMU, along Katipunan.

Takes almost an hour in the morning from dela Strada, u-turn to gate 1 and exit back going to CP Garcia at 6 to 6-15am. Wala pa pasok high school nyan.

This afternoon. more than 1 hour from our place in UP Village to Gate 1. supposedly stagggered na and dismissal times nyan. and wala pa ding high school. Next week brace yourselves and don’t lose your temper. and pray that hindi ma late mga sakay niyo. nothing less than CHAOTIC!!!!! !!

I think the new loading/unloading plan needs a review and re thinking. This may not be the solution to the safety issues raised as a result of the accident last year.

I still maintain that the old scheme will work and keep our kids safe with some fine tuning and cooperation from everyone.

I recall that MMDA was suggesting that the entry/exit set up inside ADMU and the gates be relocated. Maybe that can contribute to the solution.

this morning was probably the worst traffic ever at katipunan. the idiots at the MMDA closed the u-turn slot instead opened only the one at the end of the road.

my son was lucky he got into his class just about right but he said half his classmates were late. in some sections only 3 students were on time, some only 10 students. most of the kids came in after the flag ceremony. there were still boys arriving at school at recess time. they were unable to start lessons because there were too few students inside the classroom.

i saw both sides of katipunan on a standstill so i decided to drive all the way to UP, out to congressional to go back to san juan. it took me a total of almost 3 hours – left the house at 6:15, was able to return close to 9. it usually takes me 35 to 45 minutes.

close to the end of mirriam, i saw a police officer, he was probably a lieutenant or a captain. i stopped my car and talked to him. i pulled down the window of the pasenger side, he talked to me.

very stupidly he asked me — “sir, bakit po?”. that stupid question got me angrier – “hindi mo ba napansin, grabe ang traffic?”. “alin po sir?”. i could not believe he was pretending to not to see what is wrong.

i could no long keep my cool – “sinong gago yung nagsara ng u-turn slot sa may ateneo? ano ang pangalan?” “ho? hindi ko po kayo marinig.”

then he gets his cellphone, talks to it and leaves me ang goes to the center of the road. he asks MMDA traffic enforcers to talk to me instead. i ask the traffic enforcers what was the name of the officer – they said they did not know him, he was just new in his post.

the officer was gone, the coward went to the middle of the road pretending to direct traffic. the whole thing was on a standstill! no traffic to direct. he was too far gone for me to follow where he was. besides, i was in my shorts, in my tsinelas (oops, flip flops), unshaven, mismatched t-shirt and baseball cap, and looking hungry, i did not want to get shot with his service pistol looking like that in the middle of katipunan.

next time i see this wuss of a police officer, i will make sure to take his picture using my cellphone so he can no longer avoid me. he is probably the gago who closed the u-turn slot near ateneo! and i promise to be better dressed with matching clothes and shoes next time so in case i get shot at the middle of katipunan, at least i look nice.

good luck tomorrow.

the question was answered today. there are two of them, not just one:

MMDA mulls moving U-turn slots on Katipunan

By Allison Lopez
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 00:42:00 06/19/2009

MANILA, Philippines—To ease the perennial gridlock on Katipunan Avenue in Quezon City, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) may soon move its two U-turn slots away from the gates of schools in the area.

MMDA General Manager Robert Nacianceno, who inspected the area on Thursday with MMDA Chair Bayani Fernando, said they were studying their options while coordinating with officials of Miriam College and Ateneo de Manila University.

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/metro/view/20090619-211291/MMDA-mulls-moving-U-turn-slots-on-Katipunan

AMEN to that. My son was late for school today. Dati he leaves the house at 6:30 am and is in the classroom by 7. With this new scheme he probably needs to leave by 6 AM!?! So he wakes up at 5? This is getting ridiculous. The solution is worse than the problem. enough already