THE Davao City Traffic and Transport Management Office (CTTMO) will start on Monday, June 25, 2018, the implementation of the 20-second parking period for loading and unloading and use of yellow boxes for passenger vehicles.
This means, commuters and public utility drivers can only load and unload passengers in these yellow boxes and commuters have to be quick about as drivers are only allowed 20 seconds to be in those yellow boxes or loading and unloading areas.
CTTMO Chief Dionisio Abude said that after the one-week information dissemination and reminding drivers on the streets about these rules, they will be apprehending drivers and issuing citation tickets after that. Abude also said that after public vehicles, they will be implementing the same for private motorists.
Consideration will only be given to pregnant women, persons with disability, and senior citizens who will need more time to ride and disembark.
“This is one of our initiatives because under the Comprehensive Transport Traffic Code of Davao City, under City Ordinance 0334-12 series of 2012 Section 45, it states that, the loading and unloading of passengers and goods should have a limited time,” Abude said.
We can only heave a sigh of relief and pray that this will indeed be implemented.
Davao City is already fast growing, the traffic situation is worsening, but Dabawenyo motorists and commuters and public utility vehicle drivers are conducting themselves like we still live in the times when time waits for us. Commuters go down very slowly, even paying their fare after they have asked the driver to stop and wait for the change as traffic piles up behind. Drivers too abuse loading areas, especially those right before traffic lights, by using these like a passenger terminal where PUJs wait for passengers, their "conductors" and "barkers" soliciting passengers and the driver idling until the vehicle has enough passengers, never mind if this takes more than a minute and vehicles are stuck behind these idling vehicles.
We cannot stop our city from growing, we can only keep pace. Keeping pace includes quickening our literal pace.