DAVAO CITY — There has been a marked improvement in the flow of traffic in Davao City, which ranked fifth in a recent survey of Southeast Asian cities with the best flow of traffic.
The latest ranking, made in a survey of companies operating in Southeast Asian cities, was an improvement over Davao Citys ranking three years ago, which was 27th, Celso Gempesaw, head of the Traffic Management Center, said last week at the Club 888 Forum at The Marco Polo Hotel.
Gempesaw attributed the improvement to the arrests of violators and the continuing education being given by the government to drivers.
Although Gempesaw said limited resources hinder the efficient implementation of traffic, the city tries its best to maintain better flow of traffic. He said his departments budget could need an increase. If I were to propose, the ideal budget could be 39 million pesos as against the current fund of only 20 million pesos, he said. He said they could hire traffic personnel to add to the existing 360 personnel.
More than 35,000 vehicles are registered in Davao City and 20 percent of the vehicles in Region 11 are plying the city, it being the center of commerce and trade in Mindanao.
Some innovations have to be done in order to improve the flow of traffic, Gempesaw said. He added that the traffic signalization program of the city is now being pursued with a funding of 100 million pesos.
With the increasing number of vehicles, he said, there is a need to open several road right of way (RRW) to provide alternate routes to motorists. There are about 16 of these RRW but Gempesaw said his department only recommended five as priority projects to be completed within the year.
Among these routes are Roxas to connect to Tionko, Chavez (Buyayang) toward Villamor in Bo. Obrero, Gempesaw to Lapu-lapu, Roxas/Jacinto toward Palma Gil St., Bonifacio Monument (Rotonda) passing Magallanes to Bolton Bridge. (Philippine Information Agency)
