A 15-MAN team of traffic management experts of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) arrived in Bacolod Sunday, December 2, to study the traffic situation in the city for 12 days and propose a Traffic Management Masterplan.
Mayor Evelio Leonardia stressed that commissioning a traffic master plan could cost millions if done by private groups, but MMDA is assisting Bacolod for free.
He thanked MMDA chairman Danilo Lim for graciously granting his request for a free traffic master plan.
“Also, we believe that the best group that we can get to help us come up with a master plan for the traffic in Bacolod is the MMDA. Not only are they equipped in academics, but they also have actual experience,” Leonardia said.
The mayor met with MMDA Traffic and Engineering Center director Neomie Recio, who led the team, and her 14 traffic engineers upon their arrival to Bacolod Monday afternoon, December 3.
The mayor and key executives of the city met with the MMDA team for a briefing.
Study
Recio said they will conduct a field study and data gathering on Bacolod streets starting Sunday night, December 2 until December 13.
She will deploy traffic engineers and experts, especially on the busiest intersections of the city, on peak hours in the morning and in the afternoon.
They will compare the traffic volume against the traffic capacity of the roads, and identify traffic generators and problems in certain areas and make recommendations on how to solve them.
After the 12-day study, they will bring the data to their office in Manila for analysis and evaluation.
The analysis will take three to four months, and their evaluation shall be the basis for a Traffic Management Masterplan for Bacolod.
Traffic
Leonardia said Bacolod has the fastest-growing population in Western Visayas in terms of volume of motor vehicles.
Records of the Land Transportation Office (LTO) showed that in 2017 alone, there were a total of 92,827 registered motor vehicles or an increase of 7,849 from the 2016 figure of 84,978 vehicles.
The 92,827 vehicles in Bacolod account for 22.31 percent or almost one fourth of the total number of vehicles in Western Visayas, the LTO report also showed.
“Given the complexities of a growing city, traffic becomes an inevitable epidemic, but in spite of this, we will still try everything possible to have it well-managed,” the mayor said at the briefing.
And to do it correctly, scientifically, and expertly, we need the MMDA to help us, he added.
The MMDA performs planning, monitoring, and coordinative functions, and in the process exercises regulatory and supervisory authority over the delivery of metro-wide services within Metro Manila. (PR)