CAGAYAN de Oro City Councilor Teodulfo Lao Jr. has urged the Roads and Traffic Administration (RTA) to hasten the completion of the Local Public Transport Route Plan (LPTRP) as one of the measures to address the worsening traffic situation.
According to Lao, the LPTRP is mandatory requirement of every local government unit per order issued by the Department of Transportation and Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG).
In his special report, Lao said the transport route plan will determine the number of vehicles that frequently passes through national highways and major thoroughfares.
He said establishing a transport route plan will create new route schemes that will possibly improve traffic flow
Lao, chairperson of the public utilities committee, said the RTA has failed to present the LPTRP in its series of meetings. He said sometimes, the traffic department cannot even provide specific data requested by the committee.
"LPTRP is the best material reference for traffic management and enforcement, I keep on reminding to fast track it so we can come up with a concrete solution. I hope that before this year ends, I hope there is already LPTRP in place," Lao said.
The RTA has yet to comment on Councilor Lao's report.
The traffic department was also criticized recently by another councilor, Romeo Calizo, for supposedly providing band-aid solutions to the traffic problem. He said if he could, he would give the RTA a failing grade.