CITY Transport and Traffic Management Office (CTTMO) Chief Dionisio Abude said during the ISpeak media forum on Thursday, October 5, at the City Mayor's Office, that they made sure there were personnel manning all the pedestrian lanes near schools.
Abude said they cannot man all the pedestrian lanes in Davao City but they are in talks with the barangay officials to augment their personnel in manning the pedestrian lanes that are not near schools.
“Kung tan-awon nimo ang tanan pedestrian lanes kung butangan natu mura’g mo-sobra pa sa atoang personnel karun (The number of pedestrian lanes in the city is much larger than the number of personnel that we currently have),” Abude said.
Abude added that they responded to all the academic institutions who requested their assistance in manning the pedestrian lanes. However, he clarified that this is only when students walk to and from the premises of the school.
One of the suggestions of CTTMO is to put up solar stands that should be installed on the side of the pedestrian lanes. These solar stands would light up at night and inform drivers that there are pedestrian lanes in that part of the road.
Another solution that they proposed is to put up multiple signages on pedestrian slots so drivers can see well that there are pedestrians.
Meanwhile, Abude encourages pedestrians to be on high alert whenever they are crossing the pedestrian lanes.
“Naa usahay ma kuan ta sa uban tao nga maglakaw mag selpon pa gani mura’g naa sa ilang sala syempre kay kalsada man na, sakyanan, dapat kung pwede ta mag-alerto, mag-alerto ta mutabok diha sa kalsada kay basin naay mukalit ba (There are times when pedestrians are walking while looking at their cellphones as if they are in their own living rooms. Because that is a road, if possible they should be alert, pedestrians should be alert whenever they cross the pedestrian lanes because some car might pass through),” Abude said. RGP