AS DAVAO City continues to be an economic power house in Mindanao, it will also attract more people seeking opportunities here.
More people, means more public utility vehicles (PUVs) and jeepneys (PUJs) that will cater to those who do not own private vehicles. This will also mean more congested streets. Hence, a need for a mass public transport system.
With the city's current state of public transportation, it is not providing the comfort nor convenience to the commuters.
However, the city has already embarked on a project that seeks to modernize its transport system but with opposition from the public utility jeepney drivers. This modern transport system will utilize buses on certain routes.
On Tuesday, the city received another proposal for a mass transport system. The Philtram Transportation Consortium is proposing 300-seater tram as an option for the city to consider for its mass transport system.
While the project sounds good, it seems like the city's infrastructure may not be ready or feasible for this kind of mass transport.
Trams would usually need their own lane to be efficient. But with most of the roads in the city being four lanes, coupled with some entitled drivers using two lanes as parking spaces, the presence of a tram may cause more traffic rather than resolving it.
With the city's current state of development, it will not be easy to widen the roads in the city center.
Also, it may somehow be too late if they propose this to be used within the city's center as the ball for the city government's High Priority Bus System (HPBS) is already rolling. Dabawenyos will have to suffer another set of years of bad public transport if there is a sudden change in the plans.
The idea is great but is it too late to propose something like this when the public is already clamoring for the fast implementation of an efficient public transport?
But there seems to be a small silver lining ahead for the proposal. It might be more advantageous to areas in the city where the roads are wider, mostly at the outskirts of the downtown area.