Cebu organizers want to adopt a number coding scheme for vehicles to reduce traffic during the APEC summit meetings in August and September in Cebu City.
Lito Maderazo, Cebu organizing committee coordinator, said the number coding scheme was successful when they implemented it in Apec meeting venues in Manila and Boracay in May.
He said the rerouting scheme proposed by the Cebu City Traffic Operations (Citom) was not the answer to traffic congestion.
“It’s simply taking traffic from one place to another. The congestion doesn’t really go away,” he said in yesterday’s APEC coordination meeting at the Capitol.
If the scheme is followed, it would be a first time for Cebu City, said Joy Tumulak, Citom operations head.
“The (coding scheme) may be applicable in other cities but here in Cebu City, we haven’t implemented it even once. That is why a study is needed,” he told reporters
A coding scheme would be the basis for restricting vehicles to use the road on a certain day based on assigned numbers of a vehicle.
Boracay in Aklan province was the venue of the second Senior Officials’ Meeting and Related Meetings (SOM2) and the Ministers Responsible for Trade (MRT) Meeting which was attended by about 1,500 delegates coming from 21 APEC economies.
Others present in yesterday’s meeting were representatives from the Police Regional Office (PRO-7), the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), Department of Tourism (DOT), Philippine Information Agency (PIA) and officials from Capitol and Lapu-Lapu City.
Today, DOT and Land Transportation Franchise and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) officials will meet about 400 taxi drivers to brief them on the proper transport service protocol for visiting guests.
Capitol information officer Ethel Natera said relatives of APEC delegates and the foreign media, among others, will be riding taxis to get around Cebu.
Cebu has been identified as the venue for the third SOM that is expected to draw 3,200 delegates to the island.
The traffic board of Citom approved last week a rerouting plan to direct public utility vehicles away from the meeting venues./With UP Intern Julienne Hazel Pensarga