Businessman Bunny Pages, head of the Ban-Tal Traffic Task Force and a Citom board member, says they will conduct regular meetings to better deal with traffic in the area.
(CDN Photo/Junjie Mendoza)
Several homeowner groups said they noted an improvement in traffic flow in the Bannilad-Talamban (Ban-Tal) highway in north Cebu City after the enforcement of the no-left turn policy in June last year.
But a City Councilor said hard data and scientific studies are needed to show the change has been effective.
The scheme was assessed in an executive session yesterday with stakeholders and the Ban-Tal Traffic Task Force.
Cebu City Councilor Alvin Arcilla said he’s not convinced that some of the changes improved traffic.
“I’m not convinced with the no-left turn policy going to USC (University of San Carlos). The road would have had less load if they’re allowed to do a simple left turn,” said Arcilla, an industrial engineer.
He said with USC-Talamban’s 14,000 students alone, if just 10 percent have cars, there are still a lot of vehicles stuck on the road.
Tests
Vehicles from Cebu City will have to go further north to the Family Park to make a U-turn back to USC.
Arcilla, former barangay chairman of Talamban, said he has no problems with the road experiments by the Cebu City Traffic Operations Management (Citom) in Ban-Tal so long as there’s a clear basis for it.
He said Citom should at least conduct studies like a time and motion study and vehicle counts.
But businessman Bunny Pages, who heads the Ban-Tal Traffic Task Force, said they don’t have resources to conduct these studies.
Pages and 15 other stakeholders along the area were handpicked by Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama in July last year after the mayor’s decision to implement a no-left turn policy caught the public off-guard.
An executive order was issued by the mayor creating the task force to help monitor and assess traffic in the area as well as recommend interventions.
But Pages said they only started meeting last November.
“I was waiting for an appointment to be part of the Citom board because it was useless to meet unless we’re represented in the Citom board, we can’t do anything. We apologize for it, but beginning now we’ll regularly meet,” Pages told the council.
Pages was given a seat in the Citom board in November last year.
Councilor Sisinio Andales said he thinks the Bantal Traffic Task Force may be useless since Citom has its own planning and recommending body.
“The creation of the Ban-Tal management group should be dissolved for being useless as they met only twice from July 2014 up to the present as admitted by Bunny Pages,” he said.
Interventions
Pages explained that it was difficult to convene the group since most members are from the private sector and there was no City Hall funding to conduct meetings.
No official from Citom was present in yesterday’s executive session.
Regional Director Arnel Tancinco of the Land Transportation Office (LTO-7) said Citom needs basic data before implementing traffic interventions.
Strict
Enrique Abellana, president of the Maria Luisa Estate Park Homeowners Association, said traffic “somehow improved” in the area though he noted some problems still need to be addressed.
“I think the road is enough to accommodate the volume of vehicles if not for jeepneys stopping anywhere they want. There should be strict implementation of this,” he said.
He suggested a traffic management committee with both Cebu City and Mandaue City traffic officials to coordinate traffic in both cities.
Vehicles that need to go to Ma. Luisa subdivision from Cebu City have to turn right to AS Fortuna Street and make a U-turn back to the village.
But sometimes, Abellana said, they are stuck in AS Fortuna in Mandaue City during peak hours.
Improvement
After 7 p.m., they are allowed to make a direct left turn to Ma. Luisa subdivision.
Sing Solon, a member of the Ban-Tal Traffic Task Force, said people should be educated on traffic rules especially about where to load and unload.
On a scale of 1 to 10, Solon rated the traffic improvement an 8.
“I’m always on the road. In Talamban, I can see a lot of habal-habal (motorcycle-for-hire) drivers who park along the road and don’t follow traffic rules,” he told the council.
He said there are no pocket lanes for jeepneys so passengers are just dropped off anywhere.
Jose Barona Jr. of Holy Family Village 2, said students and homeowners have become disciplined and adjusted to the traffic changes in the Ban-Tal area.