ANGELES CITY – The City Government under the leadership of Mayor Edgardo Pamintuan has imposed stricter enforcement of traffic measures resulting to an increased number of apprehensions.
Based on the latest data submitted by the Angeles City Traffic Development Office (ACTDO) and Public Transportation Regulatory Office (PTRO), there have been 9,759 violators since January 2017.
PTRO Head Reny Mariano said that motorcycle riders are the most frequent road violators in the city, and that, stricter enforcement has been made to limit the carefree driving of motorcyclists.
City Traffic Czar Danilo Concepcion, on the other hand, said that ACTDO has also been stricter in the implementation of the “No Helmet, No Travel” Policy and obstruction of roads, leading to an increase of apprehensions and towing abandoned vehicles.
Statistics showed that a total number of 4,281 violators have been apprehended. For helmet-less riding alone, there has been an increase from 949 violators in June 2017 to 999 violators as of July 2017.
Also included in the list of public transportation means with most violations are trucks with 1,791 violators, tricycles, 1,594, public utility jeepneys, 1,313, and privately owned vehicles, 779.
ACTDO and PTRO have also determined mostly violated traffic rules which include obstructions along the main thoroughfares with 3,756 apprehensions, truck ban, 1,332, lack of licenses, 677, lack of mayor’s permit, 472, and invalidity of registration and license, 347.
The City Government has collected a total of P2.8 million worth of fines and penalties from the mentioned violators and apprehensions.
Traffic education and engineering
Concepcion said that compared to three years ago, Angeles City is and still is improving its traffic conditions.
Aside from traffic law enforcement, Angeles City has been developing a multitude of traffic education, engineering and experimental traffic schemes in an effort to improve the traffic situation.
The installation of steel barriers in key traffic locations around the city has lessened counter-flow, and the Abacan loop in the Robinsons and Abacan bridge area contributed to the alleviation of traffic to and from Marisol.
From an improvement/feedback report by Mark Lester Gatbonton, planning officer of ACTDO, the implementation of “no parking” signs along with the towing of illegally parked vehicles has significantly lessened illegal parking.
Tricycle drivers have also been informed to stay on the sides of the road and not on the main highway.
“These numbers that were submitted to us are a manifestation that our traffic management arms are doing their best to maintain road orderliness and safety. On the other hand, we are also saddened because it shows that many motorists are reluctant to follow the laws and precautions identified in our Traffic Code,” Pamintuan said.
“We don’t want to be another Manila. We want to be ahead of the needs in improving the traffic flow. This is all in an effort to prepare Angeles City for the future impact of newer vehicles and increase in commuters,” the mayor added. (PR)