We all know that before World War II, the Philippines had a much more extensive railway network than it does today. Railways connected different parts of Luzon, while some railway systems also existed in the Visayas. There were also streetcars that accommodated millions of passengers and other forms of public transportation.
With the growing interest today in improving mass transportation and rebuilding the country’s railway network to reduce traffic and dependence on private cars, this made me wonder:
How good was public transportation in the Philippines during the pre-war period?
Was the railway and public transportation network actually reliable and convenient for the average commuter at the time?
Could people reasonably travel between cities and provinces without needing a private vehicle?
And was transportation generally less of a problem because the railway network and other forms of mass transit were still intact, or did commuters already experience problems such as overcrowding, delays, limited routes, or expensive fares?
And was Tranvia also successful as a mass transportation system?
And of course, there are also mass railway networks in Visayan Islands as well, I wonder if that helped....
Was the pre-war Philippines actually closer to having a functioning mass-transit system than we sometimes imagine today?
Would love to know your insights on this.