Commuters still gripe about integrated bus hub

MANILA -- It is the second day of the operation of the new Southwest Integrated Provincial Transport Terminal in Parañaque, and commuters from Batangas and Cavite are still complaining about the new system. Aside from the inconvenience brought about by the new setup which forces them to get off the terminal and transfer to other vehicles, the biggest problem here is that there are not enough buses and public vehicles that can accommodate the commuters coming from the southwest terminal. According to the original plan, the commuters supposedly should be waiting for the buses in front of Coastal Mall. Since buses there are not enough, commuters are forced to go up the overpass and transfer to Roxas Boulevard to wait for buses going to EDSA or Lawton. Some commuters wait up to an hour just to get a ride. Some students and employees are not happy with the situation. They urged the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) to look into the situation as well as beef up security in the area. One commuter already complained that he was robbed while trying to get up the bus. MMDA chairman Francis Tolentino admitted that it would still take some time before commuters get used to this new system, which is designed to ease traffic congestion in the metro.