The city government will prioritize the creation of a Baguio City Traffic Management Office to supervise, manage and administer the implementation of numerous traffic management programs, projects and activities to help ease the traffic congestion in the city.
Mayor Benjamin B. Magalong said the creation of the Baguio Traffic Management Office is one of the major legislations needed by the administration to help address the current traffic problems of the city considering the need to craft short, medium and long-term solutions to the city’s traffic woes.
He stated the creation of the City Tourism Office as a department is no yet a priority of the city government as the traffic situation needs immediate action to lessen the burden of residents and visitors who are always being caught in traffic.
One of the 15-point agenda of the administration is effective traffic management to allow motorists to efficiently move around the city and for visitors to enjoy the different scenic tourist spots and boost tourism.
Based on data obtained from the Baguio field office of the Land Transportation Office (LTO), there are already over 64,000 motor vehicles registered in the city, way above the carrying capacity of the city’s roads at 18,000 motor vehicles.
According to him, the city government is simply awaiting the results of the comprehensive study conducted by the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) experts who did a study of the city’s traffic situation and their recommendations.
He claimed the city government has an existing traffic management office but is not sufficient to address all the identified traffic problems in the city thus it is recommended this should be upgraded to a department that will solely deal with the city’s traffic problems.
The city mayor emphasized the city government is currently implementing some necessary traffic experiments in selected major roads in the city to help reduce traffic congestions although the traffic in the said areas only happen during peak hours of the day.
Residents and tourists have been complaining of the traffic gridlock in most parts of the city’s central business district, a major hindrance to growth and development of the city.
The mayor opined that it is important that the traffic in various parts of the city only happen during peak hours and that it is also moving to lessen inconvenience to the public even with the influx of visitors during the weekends and prolonged holidays.
Aside from the 64,000 motor vehicles registered in the city, there are also nearly 50,000 motor vehicles registered in nearly LTO Benguet.
By Dexter A. See