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Government Plans to Enforce Carpooling To Ease EDSA Traffic

September 9, 2015September 9, 2015 Ronnie Bulaong Leave a comment

As the traffic congestion in Metro Manila gets crazier over time, so does the so-called “solutions” that government agencies are suggesting in the hopes of easing the situation a bit. One of their latest brilliant ideas involved banning vehicles in EDSA that don’t have at least three passengers on board.

According to Secretary Rogelio Singson of the Department of Public Works and Highway (DPWH), the said idea is “being seriously considered” by the government as a way to solve the worsening traffic congestion, during peak hour at least.

edsa-traffic

If implemented, cars which don’t meet the aforementioned requirement for number of passengers will be prohibited to traverse Metro Manila’s main thoroughfare between 7am to 10am and 5PM until eight in the evening.

Singson pointed out that before the proposed solution can be executed, various government agencies should provide alternate routes to cater for vehicles that will not be allowed to pass through EDSA. What he failed to mention though is how the enforcing bodies will be able to identify if each vehicle during the said peak hours indeed have three or more passengers.

The DPWH secretary said that nothing is set in stone at this point in time and details of the plan will be ironed out this Friday.

[Source]

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7 must-have apps for Manila’s Traffic Armageddon

February 18, 2014February 18, 2014 Kevin Bruce Francisco Leave a comment

ABS-CBN has reported that yesterday might be the beginning of the so-called ‘Traffic Armageddon’ in Manila due to the construction of the Skyway 3 project and the NAIAEx phase 2 project. It was foreseen that traffic volume in EDSA would increase by more than half, so it’s inevitable that we’ll get stuck in traffic. Here are 7 free must-have apps that you should have to prepare for this fiasco!

1. Tour Events – Available in iOS

Source: appcrawlr.com

For those who like sleeping while commuting (and occasionally oversleeping and going past your stop), this is the perfect app. After setting your destination, it uses your GPS to know where you are and wakes you up, most likely through your headphones, when your stop is approaching.

That’s not all, it can also send a text message to your contacts when you’re near your destination. For example it can send a message to your partner saying, “Honey I’m almost home. Make me a sandwich.” Pretty neat, eh?

2. Winobi – Available in iOS and Android

Source: androidpit.com

Winobi is a game for people who want to pass the time and tease their brain while suck in traffic. The app has a bunch of puzzle games to test your math, association, and perception skills.

You can also invite your friends and family to join in the fun if you’re connected online to challenge them and beat their high scores. Basically, it makes use of the time you spend in traffic and sharpens your brain at the same time!

3. Vector – Available in iOS and Android

Source: celldekho.com

Don’t want to think a lot and just play purely for fun? Do you like parkour? Then Vector is the game for you! It is a side-scrolling, arcade-style game with a free-runner as your main character. Run, vault, slide, and climb like a ninja and avoid obstacles so that Big Brother doesn’t catch up to you.

Vector is a really simple game, navigated by just swiping the screen of your smartphone. It’s easy and interesting enough to accompany you during your whole duration in EDSA!

4. Waze – Available in iOS, Android, Windows, and BlackBerry

A screenshot from my phone.

I’m sure most of you have heard of Waze. It is a navigation app that informs you of traffic and other road conditions in real time. I have been personally using Waze for quite a while now and I could say that it has helped me more than once to find a shorter route, avoid traffic, and watch out for cops!

Hopefully, it proves as useful for you as it did for me during this Traffic Armageddon.

5. Grab Taxi – Available in iOS, Android, and Windows

Source: grabtaxi.com

Grab Taxi is another app that’s been gaining popularity here in the Philippines. It does what its name suggests — the app notifies the taxi (that also uses this app) nearest you and it will show your location so the taxi can fetch you.

Partner this with Waze, and there’s a high chance that you’ll be in a faster route, while enjoying the comforts of a taxi. Of course, you’ll need to shell out more dough if you opt to take a cab home rather than a van or jeepney.

6. Yank – iOS

Source: itunes.apple.com

This has been a new discovery of mine and I think a lot of people could really make use of this app. What Yank does is basically to alert people (friends, family, and even emergency personnel) for an emergency. Simply yank the headphones out of your mobile device and a text or email will be sent to them together with your GPS location, informing them that you might be in danger.

A lot of crime has happened in the past involving public transportations on the road, and this app could definitely come in handy when you’re in traffic and something goes wrong. In addition, Yank could also be used when you’re jogging, hiking, biking, and a lot more to ensure your safety.

7. Twitter – Available in iOS, Android, Windows, and BlackBerry

Source: gmanetwork.com

Yes, I’ve included Twitter in this list. Who doesn’t want to tweet their frustrations when they’ve been in the same area for over 30 minutes already? Venting out could help you release tension and a bit of stress.

Also, during this time, you can stalk your favorite celebrities. Who knows, they might be in the same traffic as you are, like Andi Manzano here!

8. Mirror – Available in iOS and Android

Source: gadgetwise.blogs.nytimes.com

This is just a bonus app for the ladies out there. If you girls are bored out of your wits in traffic, there are probably few things that come to mind, and one of those is to take a traffic #selfie! The Mirror app makes sure that you’re ready to snap those photos away and upload them to either Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or all of them at the same time!

Got more apps you want to share to other readers? The comment box is ready!

The post 7 must-have apps for Manila’s Traffic Armageddon appeared first on YugaTech | Philippines, Tech News & Reviews.

Waze app: how to use your phone to outsmart Cebu traffic

August 25, 2013August 25, 2013 Max Limpag Leave a comment

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“IN 200 meters,” the Waze app on the phone said, “turn right.”

We were headed to Marco Polo Plaza Cebu and were near the Banilad flyover on our way to the IT Park when Waze, the driving application I was running on my phone, gave the direction to turn right.

Waze had determined, by going through its database of roads in Cebu and reports of traffic conditions sent in by users, that the quickest route for us was to go to that neighborhood behind Gaisano Country Mall, pass through Camp Lapu-Lapu and a small side road and emerge on our way up to the hotel.

But I’ve never passed that neighborhood behind Gaisano Country Mall for years and didn’t know whether we could find our way out of it or even whether we could get in Camp Lapu-Lapu, which is a military facility.

Waze app GPS navigation

Although the Waze app had brought us quickly to where we were, 200 meters before Gaisano Country Mall, I had a mind to ignore the device and follow the route I’d normally take, which is to go straight Gov. M. Cuenco Ave. and then turn right to Jose Maria del Mar St. to enter IT Park.

Waze app uses GPS, traffic reports from users

EASY TO USE. The Waze mobile app is easy to use to navigate streets and submit traffic and road incident reports.

But I decided to follow Waze’s advice, I’m testing it for a column piece anyway, I told myself. Corner by corner, the app navigated us, via voice cues, through the neighborhood near Camp Lapu-Lapu, right through the camp itself and out near JY Square.

And, as Waze had done so for weeks that I’ve been using it, we cut travel time by several minutes.

Waze, for the unfamiliar, is an application that you install into your Android or iOS device to help you navigate traffic. It uses GPS or global positioning system to track where you are, where you want to go and how you can go there fast.

It does this by getting route and driving data from the devices of its users and receiving reports from them. Users can report traffic jams and their severity, accidents, hazards and even police.

The system was founded in Israel and became very popular all over the world that Google bought it for $1.03 billion. The traffic reports are now starting to be integrated in Google Maps.

Easy to use

If you drive, Waze is an app that you should install. It’s for free. But for it to work, you need to turn on our phone’s GPS or location service and have a working mobile data connection.

FASTEST ROUTE. Waze gives you suggested routes to where you are headed and offers the fastest way to get there, taking into account traffic conditions.

Using it is very straightforward. To go somewhere, you just choose navigate and search for the location of the place you are headed to. To simplify regular commute, it allows you to save locations you frequent like work, home etc. Reporting traffic situations is also easy, provided you have good mobile Internet connection.

The Waze app, being free and easy to deploy, is a great solution to dealing with traffic in an area like Cebu. Closed circuit cameras, which the City is deploying albeit not only for traffic but also to monitor crime, can only do so much and aren’t as useful on the phone.

It would help our situation if more people would use apps like Waze and if government can help improve the system by populating it with field reports from enforcers.

The City already has a traffic reporting system via a system built on Android phones deployed on select taxicabs. By running the Waze app in them and encouraging drivers to send reports, other commuters will be able to take advantage of that rich traffic data.

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