Traffic office mulls permanent ban of some PUJ routes on John Paul II Ave.

STARTING yesterday, some public utility jeepneys (PUJs) were not allowed to pass through Pope John Paul

II Ave. (formerly J. Luna Ave.) in Cebu City.
Traffic planners are weighing whether to make the PUJ ban and truck ban permanent here and in roads

around SM City after seeing results of the scheme adopted for the Asia-Pacific Cooperations (APEC)

forum.
The board of the Cebu City Transportation Office (CTTO) will discuss the proposal today.
“We are balancing interests here. Private vehicle owners have seen the difference. They saw that

there was smooth flow of traffic, especially during the APEC meetings. That is what they want,” said

CCTO executive director Rey Gealon.
The month-long rerouting experiment is still ongoing.
“This is not a total PUJ ban. We just want to lessen the PUJs in the area,” said operations chief Joy

Tumulak of CTTO yesterday.
PUJs with route numbers 04L, 03Q and 03A though are still allowed to pass the area.
The scheme eased road travel time of APEC delegates who had to shuttle to different hotels for

meetings.
In dry-runs conducted by CCTO, it took 23-30 minutes to travel from Shangri-La’s Mactan Resort to

Marco Polo Plaza in Cebu City.
However, commuters were angry about the sudden route changes which were not widely publicized before

they took effect.
Some PUJ drivers complained of a drop in their daily earnings with the new route.
“PUJ drivers don’t want it (rerouting) because it will change the riding and driving routine of

drivers and passengers. That is why we need to experiment if only to make it smoother,” Gealon said.
Any permanent route chage will need approval of the CTTO board and Cebu City Council.Last Monday, the

CCTO already lifted the extended truck ban along the APEC ceremonial route (excluding S. Osmeña Road)

from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.