BAGUIO CITY – The City Council approved a resolution authorizing Mayor Benjamin B. Magalong to enter into a memorandum of agreement with the Department of Transportation (DOTR) for the conduct of a study on the development of a cable car system interconnecting Baguio City and adjoining local government units such as La Trinidad, Itogon, Sablan, Tuba, Tublay and parts of La Union.
The resolution authored by all members of the local legislative body stated that some studies in various local government units such as Marikina City and Pasig City are being conducted through the transportation department to check the feasibility of building cable car systems in the said areas, thus, Baguio City is also interested to avail of the same to help improve its mass transport system as part of the initiatives to effectively and efficiently address the worsening traffic congestions around the city.
The resolution admitted that among the serious problems that the city is facing is the traffic congestions in the different parts of the city that is why it is incumbent upon the present set of local officials to craft, formulate and implement strategies that will help in easing the burden of motorists in having to be caught in the daily traffic jams, especially in the central business district area.
One of the 15-point collective agenda of the present administration is aggressive traffic management through the use of appropriate engineering interventions that will effectively and efficiently address the current problem of motorists.
The resolution noted that one of the possible ways in addressing the city’s traffic problems is the putting in place of the state-of-the-art cable car system that will serve as one of the modes of mass transportation in the city to reduce the impact of traffic jams to the city’s robust economy.
Earlier, the local government already submitted its expression of intent to Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade for the city to be able to avail of the low carbon emission transport system that will benefit the city in terms of preserving and protecting the environment and addressing the traffic concerns aside from serving as an added tourist come-on for local and domestic visitors.
Earlier, the Cordillera office of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST-CAR) embarked on the conduct of a pre-feasibility study for the establishment of the monorail system from La Trinidad up to Baguio City and within the central business district area but the lack of funds to pursue the detailed feasibility study of the project cased the same to be temporarily shelved and awaiting funding support from concerned government agencies wanting to pursue the realization of the same.
Initially, the projected cost of the monorail system using the locally developed Automated Guideway Transit (AGT) would be P3.8 billion for the 5.2-kilometer route from the Provincial Capitol area up to Slaughterhouse Compound and P29 billion for the 2.1-kilometer route from the Bonifacio rotunda up to North Drive passing through the central business district area and various tourist destinations within the heart of the city.
By Dexter A. See
Photo by Armando M. Bolislis
