Traffic congestion along Fuente Osmeña in Cebu City. CDN Digital photo | Delta Letigio
CEBU CITY, Philippines—The traffic lights are fixed, but the streets surrounding the 14 junctions affected by a malfunction of the Sydney Coordinated Adaptive System (Scats) remain congested on Wednesday, August 14, 2019.
The Cebu City Transportation Office (CCTO) said the traffic congestion remained because of the large volume of cars passing through Osmeña Boulevard, Gorordo Street, and Escario Street.
“This (traffic congestion) is normal during peak hours,” said Ronei Nadera, the CCTO spokesperson.
All of the traffic lights that conked out on Tuesday, August 13, 2019 were fixed on the same day are now fully functional and synchronised.
The CCTO is hoping the digital traffic system will not have another major breakdown anytime soon.
The breakdown of the Scats on Tuesday caused the traffic lights in fourteen major junction in downtown Cebu City to stop synchronising.
The problem was fixed after seven hours but the traffic remained heavy until 10 p.m.
Cebu City Mayor Edgardo Labella already said he has plans to upgrade the traffic system of CCTO, similar to that of Mandaue City and Talisay City.
He said the outdated digital system is causing more congestion instead of solving it. /bmjo