THE Technical Working Group (TWG) of the Local Transport Route Plan (LTRP) has recommended the implementation of number coding scheme for private-owned vehicles to ease traffic in Zamboanga City.

Engr. Leonard Alcala, TWG team leader, said the implementation of the number coding scheme will lessen traffic congestion, since it will reduce the number of vehicles in the street by at least 20 percent daily.

Noel Noche, Land Transportation Office's district head, said there is a six percent increase annually in the number of new vehicles in the city.

Noche said the 2019 data showed that there are 100,534 vehicles plying Zamboanga City's thoroughfares. These include 92,414 private-owned, 1,487 government-owned and 6,633 PUVs.

Alcala said the implementation of the number coding scheme will also encourage owners of private vehicles to patronize the modern buses that will soon ply the city's main thoroughfares.

He said the rationale of the public utility vehicle modernization program is to encourage private car users to shift to public transport. (SunStar Zamboanga)