The hellish traffic in Metro Manila can motivate public officials to come out with all sorts of solutions. Many of them can be adopted in Cebu.
Two sensibel proposals come from Valenzuela 1st District Rep. Sherwin Gatchalian. House Bill No. 5098 or the “Proof of Parking Space Act” would require would-be car buyers to first show proof that they have adequate parking space at home or the office before being allowed to buy a vehicle.
The second proposal which is more arbitrary oncerns the requirement for mall and establishment owners to waive or lower parking fees.
Gatchalian qualified his second proposal by stating that buyers who bought P1,000 or more worth of goods are entitled to a discounted parking fee rate or the waiving of their parking fee outright if they parked their vehicles for three hours or less.
Other nations around the world particularly Japan have similar proposals that contribute to easing the inevitable traffic congestion that plagues major cities like Tokyo.
Since Tokyo has a limited land area, its residents have to produce evidence of parking space or else they can forget about buying their own cars.
It’s not even feasible to build and own houses there due to limited urban space, a phenomenon that is prevalent in Cebu City where house and lot prices, including real property tax rates, are prohibitive for the average buyer.
Traffic congestion in Metro Cebu has approached Manila levels in recent years.
It is our great loss that local officials have neglected to use urban planning professionals in designing roads and public spaces, or crafting zoning ordinances.
Perhaps there’s still time to incorporate the requirement of showing proof of parking space for car buyers in a a new policy.
The proposed law may even spur the building of more parking spaces by developers to the detriment of commuters who still rely on public transportation or pedestrians who will certainly compete for walking space with motorists.
The second proposal to waive or lower parking fees in malls and commerical establishments may be done at the local level through an ordinance.
However, this would require the cooperation of the business sector, which also wants to ensure that they can accommodate customers during the holidays without alienating regular patrons.
Proof of parking space laws, color coding, even carpooling are Band-aids that may ease the pain of traffic congestion.
We have to use all these measures while tackling long-range solutions to develop an effective mass public transport system.
Cebu City’s Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system won’t operate before 2017 so it’s worth managing the problem of traffic by regulating car ownership first.
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