Council reactivated to address holiday traffic
Ahead of the Christmas rush and big infrastructure projects that would slow down traffic, the government has reactivated the Inter-Agency Council on Traffic (I-ACT) that will lay down a clear plan to address the pestering traffic problem in the metropolis.
Armed Forces of the Philippines, Metro Manila mayors that compose the Metro Manila Council, Liga ng mga Barangay ng Pilipinas, Department of Interior and Local Government, will join the original members of I-ACT: Metropolitan Manila Development Authority, Philippine National Police-Highway Patrol Group, Department of Transportation, Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board and Land Transportation Office.
Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade said the I-ACT will focus on five Es of traffic management: enforcement, education environment, engineering and economics.
“Our priority program on addressing traffic is infrastructure, provision efficient transport integrated system. Projects underway are putting up trains, subway, integrated transport terminals, education and enforcement of traffic rules. We will enforce them with discipline and unity,” said Tugade.
Tugade admitted that they are still waiting for the passage of the emergency powers that seek to present more plans on how to address the traffic crisis not just in Metro Manila but in other parts of the country.
For his part, MMDA Chairman Danilo Lim said they can share the problems of traffic management, usually blamed on MMDA alone, with other agencies.
Among the concrete programs lined up this holiday season are setting up of shoppers lanes, dialogue with mall owners on regulation of night time deliveries, implementation of no weekday sale, moratorium on road diggings, cited Lim.
The new i-ACT components will also include the expansion of its scope of operations which shall also cover the provinces of Cavite, Laguna, Bulacan, and Rizal.
DOTR Undersecretary Tim Orbos said the revival of I-ACT will focus on alleviating traffic congestion on Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City caused by construction of Metro Rail Transit 7.
Aside from traffic management, i-ACT will also conduct intensified operations against illegal parking, colorum and out-of-line vehicles, and illegal terminals along major thoroughfares. It will also deal with anti-fixer, anti-fake licenses / plates, and car rental scams.
On plans for Cavite, Laguna, Bulacan and Rizal areas, Orbos said they will have a coordinative relationship with provincial governments as “we all know that these provinces are affected by us in the same manner that we affect them.”
“In Cavite, we have people working in Manila. We consider Cavite as a bedroom community. When we do traffic management only up to Las Pinas, with their inclusion to IACT, they are now involved in presenting solutions,” said Orbos.