#25 Cutting back travel time by using the Star Tollway

Once upon a time.... travel from Manila to my hometown would take 3 hours (the fastest), or 4 or 5 hours if traffic is bad. That is a normal phenomenon, mind you, a crawl from Calamba exit going to Batangas. Coming home from work one time, i have encountered the worst traffic jam in my entire life. Leaving the work at 5pm, arriving in my home at 4am... the next day. Enough time to take a bath and leave again for work hehe. They said it was the anniversary of Iglesia ni Cristo and they blocked one lane of the national road, or whatever if I'm mistaken. I took the day off anyway and sleep. =)

The travel to Batangas before was a long ardous journey as it have to pass thru Makiling, then towns like Sto Tomas, then Tanauan, then Malvar, then finally Lipa City. And then the government constructed the Star Tollway, star means Southern Tagalog Arterial Road =)

If there's something we can be grateful about the government and see where our taxes go without remorse to these politicians, its with this kind of project. With the construction of Star Tollway and connecting it directly to the South Luzon Expressway (SLEX) it has provided an expressway to these cities to and from Metro Manila without passing thru these towns. Would you believe, it can cut back travel time by 1 to 2 hours! Wow! It has made lives easier for commuters, merchants, travelers, bakasyonistas going to Puerto Galera or Laiya beaches in San Juan and has given back some hours to people's lives. Travel now has become faster, less stressful and efficient. =)