Integrated approach
Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña has proposed a “basket of solutions” to the worsening traffic problem in the city that he will soon submit to the Department of Transportation (DOTr).
Part of his traffic solutions are the integrated smart traffic signaling system, provincial and inter-city passenger transfer stations or terminals, bicycle lanes, automated ticketing or fare collection system, special bus routes or services for call center workforce, opening of Camp Lapu-Lapu, special bus routes for college students of mountain barangays, and asking the Land Transportation Office to stop sitting on the registrations of motorcycles.
Earlier, the DOTr and Office of the Presidential Assistant for Visayas announced a master plan they called the Integrated Inter-Modal Transport System (IITS) for Metro Cebu. The blueprint includes the Bus Rapid Transit that Osmeña has long been pushing for the city.
Aside from BRT, which will only be sidelined to three-lane roads, the IITS projects are the point-to-point bus system, the monorail in Lapu-Lapu City, the light rail transit (LRT) from Carcar to Danao line and Mandaue to airport line, and the intelligent transportation system.
If Osmeña thinks his “basket of solutions” can help improve the traffic situation in the city, it is well within his rights to push for it to the proper agencies for consideration. Besides, the city needs all the ideas aimed at modernizing its transport system.
The mayor’s push, however, is only for the city. And since it is intended for his area of jurisdiction alone, his proposal will only benefit his constituents because Osmeña cannot speak for other local government units.
Yes, his proposal is undeniably good for his city. The traffic problem, however, is not only taking its toll on Cebu City as it is everywhere around Metro Cebu. That is why the problem really needs an integrated approach.
Therefore, it would be much better if Osmeña can convince other local chief executives in the metro to gather for a traffic summit to discuss solutions to the problem. Metro Cebu’s serious traffic problem does not need an individual solution. It needs a unified offensive if we are to get rid of it once and for all.