Transport reforms I hope to see

World oil prices shot up to $75+ a barrel several weeks ago, highest on record. A friend told me that he encountered a paper arguing that $150 a barrel is no longer impossible within the next few years since there are so many potentially "worsening factors". Among them:
(a) Iran and Bush's "stop that nuke enrichment or..."
(b) Venezuela and Hugo Chavez' "I'm no fan of Bush" sentiments;
(c) Nigeria and its rebels' "Oil companies, close off temporarily, we need your $ and we'll shoot government soldiers";
(d) Saudi Arabia and sabotage of the royal family;
(e) Russia and Iraq and who else...

What to expect, higher pump prices of gasoline and diesel and other petrol products, what else. And yes, jeepney strikes, fare hike and "across the board wage hike" campaigns, etc. etc.The Office of the President (OP) of the President cares so much about the public that it immediately directed the Dept. of Energy to push more "energy conservation" among the people, and asked the DOF to study possible reduction in petroleum import duties.

Me thinks even if government will do nothing, the people themselves will conserve energy. When I bought my mitsubishi pick-up 7 years ago, the price of diesel was P8+/liter. Now it's almost P36/liter. Do I need the DOE to tell me that I should conserve on oil? Many motorists will be more than willing to leave their cars at home if public transpo are convenient and available. But government cares so much about the public that it wants to collect so many taxes and fees from them, such as very high "franchise tax" on taxis, fx, vans for hire, other mutant public transpo in the Phils. The only guys who don't get slapped with very high franchise tax are the jeepney drivers and operators.

So which is which -- government encouraging car pooling and energy conservation, and government discouraging public transpo by slapping high franchise tax and bureaucratic regulations on guys who provide alternative public transpo? This is not to mention very eager "public servant" policemen and LTO guys and MMDA and barangay traffic officers in mulcting and extorting drivers of fx and other "colorum" air-con vehicles.

Here are the transport reforms that I hope I can see someday.

(1) Government to do nothing (and tax nothing) on guys who want to compete in the public transpo provision business. This means drastic relaxation, if not abolition, of public transport franchise tax and other expensive requirements. Government can just collect various petroleum taxes (import tax + excise tax + VAT), and that's it.

(2) Deregulate and depoliticize fare setting. When passengers can have various options and choices -- various fx/vans lines, various bus lines, various jeepney lines, various taxi lines, that ply their route -- competing among themselves for passengers, competitors will offer various fares at various services. For instance, dilapidated jeepneys will charge a minimum of P4/passenger for the first kilometer and P1 per succeeding kilometer, while better-maintained and cleaner jeepneys, from another jeepney lines, may charge a minimum of P5 for the 1st kilometer and P1.50 per succeeding kilometer. Air-conditioned fx and vans from various fx lines, and buses from various bus lines, can charge various fares for various types of services and vehicles.

With this transport choices and competition, many middle-class Filipinos who live in residential villages will be encouraged to leave their cars at home, take public transpo and save on oil. In addition, uncomfortable and smoke-belcher jeepneys and tricycles will be slowly reduced if not eliminated as the riding public will shun them.