SOLUTION TO CONGESTION
A uniform and synchronized traffic management scheme should be adopted to ease traffic gridlocks in Metro Cebu.
Jonathan “Joy” Tumulak, Capitol’s traffic management focal person, said this was the intent of the Traffic Administration Certificate Course Training, which was undergone by representatives from the different municipalities and cities from Carcar to Danao City, to learn to synchronize plans and styles in managing traffic.
“Once ma uniform na ang traffic plans sa mga LGUs (Local Government Units), dako siya’g matabang in general sa Metro Cebu kon unsaon (on how to) pag-manage ang ilang traffic kay papareha naman sila og (because they have now the same) management style,” Tumulak said.
(If LGUs have uniform traffic plans, this would greatly help Metro Cebu to manage traffic because they will have the same management style.)
Traffic Managers and Planning Officers of different localities in Metro Cebu gathered for a five-day training sponsored by the provincial government, Department of Environmental and Natural Resources Environment Management Bureau in Central Visayas (DENR-EMB – 7) and Mega Cebu, starting yesterday.
Tumulak said experts from the National Center for Transportation Studies of the University of the Philippines (UP -NCTS) taught trainees basics in transportation planning, traffic engineering and management, fundamentals of Traffic Impact Assessment (TIA) among others.
“Kini nga training is more on ang mga LGU maka-conduct sila og planning or provision sa dagan sa transportation sa ilaha,” he said.
(This training is for LGUs to plan or anticipate traffic in their areas.)
He cited as an example, that local officials have the authority to create changes in the standard pavement markings in relation to traffic engineering and management.
They can also require developers to submit a Traffic Impact Assessment (TIA).
“Ilaha na gyod i require ang mga developer nga mo-submit og TIA. Naa diha ang mitigating unsay possible mahitabo or unsay mitigating nga plano sa developer,” said Tumulak.
(They should require developers to submit a TIA, which would include mitigation schemes on the possible effects to the traffic their constructions would entail).
Lynn Madrona, vice chairperson of the subcommittee on transport and traffic management of Mega Cebu, said they will introduce the training in other areas of the province.
“The LGUs in Metro Cebu areas are the ones experiencing congestion right now. That’s why we agreed that we go to Metro Cebu first then the province will follow. Eventually, we will go to other LGUs in the province,” she said.
Meanwhile, Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (PDRRMO) Head Baltz Tribunalo is proposing a prohibition for street dancing to avoid traffic congestion. While Vice Governor Agnes Magpale said she agreed with the suggestion of Tribunalo to limit street dancing to minor routes and prohibit it on main roads.
“Yes, I would like to echo the suggestion of Baltz especially in places like Minglanilla where there is only one main artery road,” she said.
Magpale said she was among those who were stuck in traffic in Minglanilla town last Sunday, due to the closure of the main road for the street dancing of Sugat Kabanhawan Festival.
“Grabe gyod kaayo tuod ang traffic (The traffic was really bad). They should have not closed it entirely, bisan katunga lang,” she said.
Traffic not only causes inconvenience, but EMB – 7 Regional Director William Cuñado said that idle cars caught in traffic contribute more to pollution than mobile cars.
“Bisan steady ra na sila, still they are discharging pollution,” he said.
He said that during traffic it is expected that the concentration of pollutants increases.