AFTER the successful Traffic Summit of Angeles City last week, the local government through Angeles City Traffic and Development Office (ACTDO) had been given the go signal to hire not fewer than 50 traffic enforcers for immediate deployment.
Soon, intersections and busy streets will be filled with trained enforcers to guide and monitor the flow of vehicles traversing the roads. This is just a teaser of what is about to happen in the coming weeks along the major thoroughfares in this busy highly urbanized city. ACTDO head Dan Concepcion together with CPDO and Committee on Transport chair Amos Rivera have faced all queries from multisectoral groups during the recently concluded summit. These men together with the members of the Traffic Management Board have exerted tremendous amount of time and resources to identify various challenges concerning traffic and transportation and coming up with feasible solutions.
The additional 50 enforcers will be properly trained before going to field work. According to PTRO chief admin officer Bong Mariano, all applicants must be at least High School graduate, at least 5’4” in height, having a medium frame has an edge, must be a resident of Angeles City, and most importantly, someone who is willing to be trained. I’d like to add “must be honest” and “physically fit” to those criteria because the job description requires a lot of physical resistance and the work is prone to temptation of corruption.
I’m excited to see them cite tickets for traffic violators – both motorists and commuters/pedestrians. During the summit, Mayor Ed Pamintuan has warned transport leaders and other officials that no one will be spared and nobody is exempted when caught violating traffic policy. I look forward to experience driving in Angeles as if I’m inside Subic or Clark. I’d like to see passengers waiting along loading zones, pedestrians crossing the Ped Xing or foot bridges, private vehicles parked properly, riders with proper gear and helmets. I believe it can be done… slowly until it becomes a routine.
Discipline is all we need when addressing problems concerning traffic as well as environmental issues. Councilor Amos Rivera on his final statement in his presentation said, “I can say that we are “well-disciplined” when the time comes that all of us can cross properly along the pedestrian lane.”