WITH his aim to help local government units (LGUs) with their Local Public Transport Route Plan (LPRTP) as mandated by the national government, Kapampangan urban planner Alyosha Ezra Mallari is keen on using new technologies to drive change across the transport sector.
In an interview with SunStar Pampanga, the young urban planner shared that there are viable and smart solutions to help cities and municipalities improve their transport plans.
“When I was recently tapped by the Municipality of Magalang to aid with their LPRTP, I realized that to make the project more reliable and efficient, we needed to utilize models that reflect the LGU’s current transport condition,” he said.
“That’s when I sought the help of my fellow tech advocate, Cy Quitevis, who is currently a student from the University of the Philippines, to develop a smartphone app that will enable us to detect traffic-congested areas that we need to prioritize under the LPRTP,” he added.
He explained that the advanced technology can help LGUs and planners come up with appropriate and systematic approach to address local transportation problems.
“With this technology, they can better visualize and analyze the existing public transportation routes and areas that need planning interventions. First, the app will record the GPS positions and time of the subjectthroughout the travel period. Once the data is collected, a Geographic Information Systems (GIS) software will process the information and display road network maps depicting areas with possible congestion. Real-time data will help everyone involved in the planning sector make more informed decisions,” he noted.
Mallari highlighted that in this day and age, LGUs must take advantage of technology to meet challenges of the modern time.
“As an urban planner, I highly encourage our leaders to consider the use of urban innovations to improve local planning, which is essential in building smart and sustainable communities,” he quipped.
“In the future, I believe that we all need to harness the power of urban technology to make our cities and municipalities more resilient. In this way, we can have positive impact on quality of life for residents, visitors, and local investors,” he concluded.