BAGUIO CITY – Local traffic experts disclosed that the significant increase in the volume of motor vehicles plying the various roads around the city is the root cause of monstrous traffic congestions, especially during weekends where most visitors flock to the country’s Summer Capital.
Engr. Januario Borillo, head of the Traffic and Transportation Management Division of the City Engineering Office (CEO), claimed that there are some 15,000 to 20,000 motor vehicles that add up to the present number of motor vehicles in the city during weekends and holidays which primarily causes the monstrous traffic jams around the city.
He claimed that for a 3-meter-wide road which is equivalent to a single lane, it can accommodate more than 1,000 motor vehicles with a speed of 40 to 60 kilometers per hour in one hour.
However, the city official pointed out that when the speed of the motor vehicles is reduced to 20 to 30 kilometers per hour, then there will surely be congestions because the pace of the vehicles plying the said roads is reduced significantly.
Borillo added that the current number of private and public motor vehicles that are owned by city residents is adequate for the existing roads but if the motor of vehicles of visitors are added to the same, traffic congestions are felt around the city.
According to him, it has been noticeable that there is traffic build up around the city during rush hours because many residents use their private motor vehicles to bring and fetch their children in their schools.
Moreover, he stipulated that it was also observed that the traffic situation around the city gets better during the rest of the day.
He emphasized that during the first 2 weeks of the implementation of in-person classes in the various private and public schools in the city, it was obviously an adjustment period for motorists.
Borillo asserted it is important for motorists to strictly observe the implementation of existing traffic rules and regulations to ensure the smooth flow of traffic around the city and prevent inconveniences for both residents and tourists alike which might spoil their travel to their points of destination.
The CEO traffic and transport management division is in charge of the implementation of various programs, projects and activities of the city government that is geared towards establishing short, medium and long-term solutions to the prevailing traffic problems of the city.
For the past several years, the city government, in coordination with concerned stakeholders and traffic experts, started working on possible solutions that will effectively and efficiently solve the worsening traffic problems of the city.