THE City Council lifted the ban that prohibited La Trinidad jeepneys from plying the Bokawkan Road.
The opening of Bokawkan Road to traffic from La Trinidad jeepneys is on an experiment period for 20 days. The lifting of the ban takes effect as soon as Baguio City Mayor Mauricio Domogan receives the council resolution and an executive order has been issued.
Close to 500 units from seven jeepney associations will be using the road.
The number is expected to be reduced by half with the implementation of the odd-even scheme.
The lifting of the ban did not start Monday as expected, because the City Council has not concurred with the recommendation of the committee of public utilities yet.
Jeepneys with plate numbers ending in 1-3-5-7 are allowed to use Bokawkan every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday and those ending in 2-4-6-8 and 0, every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. On Sundays all vehicles will allowed to use the road.
The seven associations were also told to look for their private loading area should they wish to have a staging area.
Domogan earlier acceded to the request of the drivers and commuters and recommended to the City Council to amend the ordinance that bans the entry of Benguet and south-bound vehicles from entering Baguio.
The rationale for the passage of the resolution is to unclog the business district from jeepneys. Trinidad jeeps numbering to around 3,000 units are said to be contributing to the congestion. When the resolution was implemented, all jeeps were made to unload at the Slaughterhouse compound.
Other rules for use of Bokawkan include unloading at Yandoc Street, across the Justice Hall building and a pick and go policy. (Rimaliza Opiña)