Traffic congestion along Fuente Osmeña in Cebu City. CDN Digital photo | Delta Letigio
CEBU CITY, Philippines — The Cebu City government will host a traffic summit on September 20, 2019 to gather the agencies and stakeholders concerned with the worsening traffic situation in Metro Cebu.
Mayor Edgardo Labella announced the holding of the summit on Thursday afternoon, August 22, as he invited the neighboring cities of Talisay and Mandaue, transport groups including habal-habal drivers, taxi and bus operators and theTransport Network Vehicle Service (TNVS) operator Grab to join the summit and share their concerns.
The mayor said the cooperation of all concerned is needed as traffic congestion is a shared problem of Metro Cebu cities and town, with Cebu City at its center.
“If there is a bottleneck in a road in Cebu City, there will be traffic in Mandaue City and Talisay City as well, in Consolacion so on and so forth,” said Labella.
He said that every stakeholder, including the operators and owners of public utility vehicles, habal-habal drivers, students groups, and business associations, would be given a chance to speak out on their ideal traffic system and give solutions to the traffic woes presently experienced in Metro Cebu.
The mayor hoped this would be the first step to an integrated solution to traffic congestion in Cebu’s metropolitan area.
The summit will be led by the Cebu City Transportation Office, while representatives from the Land Transportation Office and Land Transportation and Franchising Regulatory Board will be among the main speakers of the summit.
Labella revealed that Mega Cebu development experts woud also be in attendance so they could present their research on and possible solution to the traffic problems in Metro Cebu.
According to Labella, it is his hope that doable solutions to metropolitan Cebu’s traffic woes will be arrived at during the summit.
“It might not be outright solutions, but we will know the causes of the problems, and suggest solutions to the problems with the help of the experts,” said the mayor.