Be kind to Grab drivers

CTALK

- CITO BELTRAN

Returning from a trip to Cebu, I opted to try out a Grab Car instead of the airport coop AUV that I always take and that's when I learned that they now have an "airport dedicated" fleet of cars. The cost was almost the same but the car, or in my case an Avanza, was quite new compared to aged and often hard-riding coop AUVs.

As we set off for home, I noticed that the driver was monitoring some sort of frequency shared by other drivers. As I eavesdropped, I heard a series of lamentations from drivers on EDSA who generally shared that it takes one hour from the NAIA to get to the Ortigas commercial district. Others who were on their return trip to the airport were complaining about traffic from the Kalayaan bridge all the way to EDSA. One thing they all complained about is that MMDA presence and action was neither seen nor heard. "Nasaan na sila" was a common holler.

This had apparently been going on for several days and Grab drivers are so affected that a number of them have opted to stop ferrying passengers before the rush hour traffic. The only consolation commuters have is that there is an abundance of Grab drivers, not to mention all the motorcycle taxis in the thousands.