Rage against the traffic

BIG brother is watching over Metro Cebu, right? By Big Brother, I was hoping it would all be the agencies in charge of supervising traffic in the metro. And I'm referring to the Cebu City Traffic Operations Management (Citom), the Traffic Enforcement Agency of Mandaue (Team), the City Traffic Management System (CTMS) of Lapu-Lapu and the Traffic Operations and Development Authority (Toda) of Talisay City.

So why am I pining for an Orwellian scenario? Who wouldn't want traffic in the metro to be under constant surveillance by telescreens? To catch, on camera, every traffic violation that a public or private driver commits—from minors ones like stopping on a “no stopping area” to major ones like refusing to give way to an ambulance on an emergency run.

So yes, desperation can indeed drive any sane mortal to wish for a totalitarian solution, especially when that sane mortal lives in the Banilad-Talamban area.

Traffic in this northern corridor has gotten worse, to say the least (I wonder what's it like to say the most… hmm). And what has traffic in this area got to do with Lapu-Lapu or Talisay? Everything. Roads in the metro are interconnected; they don't stop in the middle of nowhere. So again, yes, a bottleneck in Tabunok can affect the flow in the Bantal area. Really. Okay… it can happen.

And there are no alternative routes for the hapless residents of the Bantal area, unless you consider the ridiculously out-of-the-way and equally congested Cebu North Road with connections on A.S. Fortuna, Cabancalan or Canduman. Nature lovers can always scale the hills that

There are four separate entities that are independently implementing their own traffic ordinances

run parallel to the Bantal Road, on the opposite side; that is if they're willing to dodge security of private subdivisions, a military camp, a private university… you get my drift.

So yes, the hapless residents are stuck on the Bantal Road. Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama had implemented the “no left turn” policy in the morning and in the afternoon. During these intervals, traffic does seem to ease up… a bit. At least, to quote one resident (moi), the traffic is moving, albeit at a snail's pace. But it's moving. What concerns me is what happens in between (and no, afterhours don't count). Which brings me to my next concern.

Don't we have telescreens in the metro? In Oceania they're called that, but here the gadgets would be what we would call closed-circuit television cameras or CCTVs. And no, CCTVs aren't able to project the image of Big Brother but I won't even mind seeing Mayor Rama's image projected on a telescreen to remind motorists that he is watching, as long as he doesn't break into song, that is.

And don't the local government units here have a centralized traffic control room that monitors vehicular movement?

There are four separate entities that are independently implementing their own traffic ordinances; four agencies addressing the same problem. It's not like traffic is endemic to one local government unit.

It's agreed then that traffic is a problem (duh). But what causes it? Let's start with the obvious. The government has not kept pace with the increasing number of vehicles on the road. The four-lane Bantal Road has been like that since the mid-‘90s, but the number of vehicles that use it has more than doubled (I don't have exact figures but it doesn't take a genius to figure this one out).

Also, more vehicles mean more drivers who, I'm pretty sure, didn't sit down at the Land Transportation Officew (LTO) to learn about traffic rules and regulations. It's the only logical explanation majority of road users today don't heed them. That, or they just don't care.

Oblivious, selfish fiefdoms and oblivious, selfish and ignorant drivers make for today's traffic situation in the metro.

And you wonder I hanker for Big Brother.