Saturday, May 03, 2008 City urged to hire traffic engineers By Rimaliza Opiña
FOR a small city like Baguio, additional road networks should be the last priority if it intends to bring order back in the streets.
For Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) chairman Bayani Fernando, instilling discipline among pedestrians, traffic law enforcers and drivers is still the best formula to ease traffic congestion in Baguio.
While the Baguio city government is trying several ways to solve traffic, Fernando said there is no single and perfect formula that could solve traffic congestion.
"There should be a combination of many traffic schemes," Fernando told reporters even as he admitted traffic congestion remains to be one of Metro Manila's lingering problems.
Aside from the number coding scheme, Fernando said the MMDA is planning on imposing a centralized dispatch system.
The program is now implemented among bus companies and soon with jeepneys.
Similar to the practice among airline companies, a centralized dispatch system requires buses to stay in their terminals and reach a certain number of passengers before navigating the roads.
This way, buses are kept off the roads Fernando said, adding that bus companies stand to gain because they spend less fuel compared to the old practice where they roam the roads in search of passengers.
Asked if additional road networks need be built in Baguio, Fernando said there is little space for road infrastructure here.
"To add more roads is difficult especially if there is not enough space," Fernando said, while suggesting the city should consider hiring a group of traffic engineers to study and make recommendations as to how to ease congestion.
"For a tourism city like Baguio, it is a must to have a corps of traffic engineers," Fernando said reiterating that on top of traffic-reduction schemes, discipline among all sectors should be enforced.
Since last month, a rerouting scheme was implemented in several roads here. The Traffic Management Branch (TMB) of the Baguio City Police Office reported the scheme was able ease congestion, but drivers complained the bottlenecks were merely transferred to Leonard Wood Road and Fr. Carlu Loop.
Following the rerouting at Upper Session Road, northbound vehicles were rerouted to take the UP drive and currently, the TMB is planning to impose a one-way traffic movement along Marcos Highway.
At the City Council is a pending proposed ordinance penned by Councilor Rocky Thomas Balisong, which calls for the creation of a City Transportation Management and Development Authority (BCTMDA) and a Public Utilities Transportation and Regulatory Board (PUTRB).
The proposed BCTMDA would be given the power to manage, supervise, execute and enforce national and local traffic rules.
Among the functions of the BCTMDA is to conduct a study and recommend traffic routes, manage and supervise traffic flow, designate or regulate loading and unloading terminals, pay parking areas, pavement markings, tow stalled and illegally parked vehicles, install traffic signs, street fixtures and billboards and formulate solutions to traffic problems.
It is also tasked to manage and educate the public, operators and drivers about traffic and transportation rules, and with the concurrence of the Council, the BCTMDA could issue from time to time supplement guidelines on transport rules.
To curtail the practice of converting private vehicles to public utility vehicles, part of the BCTMDA's function is to adopt measures to identify those engaged in this practice. It is also mandated to maintain drivers' records such as personal data, records of apprehension, and inventory of statistical data of PUVs plying the city's streets.
The election of PUV association's officers, resolution of PUV conflicts and application of new franchises relative to loading areas shall also be under the supervision of the BCTMDA.
The PUTFRB meantime will serve as the policy making body of the BCTMDA and supervise the franchising and regulation of public transportation in Baguio.
Regulation will be done through the issuance of stickers or regulatory numbers, checking of the genuineness of existing franchises, inspection of parking terminals, submission to the Council its recommendation on the possible cancellation of franchises, and coordination with the Department of Transportation and Communication (DOTC) regarding franchising and compliance with laws on public transportation.
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