AN INCREASE in illegal parking fines and stricter enforcement of the anti-obstruction law is being called by Baguio City Police Office (BCPO) Director Allen Rae Co, saying fines that hurt may ease traffic.
Co lamented the fine imposed for illegal parking is merely P150, which is equivalent to a mall parking fee.
The police director wants to triple fees to make the fines more painful to the pocket, in a bid to make more people follow the rules and decongest the city of traffic.
Co said a streamlining of pedestrian lanes will also be done in a bid to ease traffic in the city, adding there are multiple pedestrian lanes, steps away from each other, scattered in the city, causing untoward buildup of vehicles when drivers give way to pedestrian crossing.
"This problem did not appear overnight and this cannot be solved by the police alone," said Co.
He said pedestrian lights that will direct walk and standby modes will also be installed to guide foot traffic. There is also the possibility of installing overhead crossing to keep the flow of vehicles continuous.
The BCPO chief said Land Transportation Office records show a 10,000 increase in vehicle count since 2018, with 57,000 cars registered to the city.
Co welcomed the move of Mayor-elect Benjamin Magalong in asking the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority to pledge its expertise for the city with a team of engineers to conduct a traffic simulation to obtain data to be able to analyze and do interventions.
The BCPO also reported 46,854 apprehensions for traffic violations in the city, with 18,347 for this year alone.
Among the violations committed by motorists are reckless imprudence resulting in homicide, with 11 last year and eight for this year.