Councilor urges study on city’s traffic woes

DAVAO City Councilor Conrado C. Baluran, chairperson of the committee on transportation and communications, underscored the urgency of addressing the city’s worsening traffic congestion in his privilege speech on Tuesday morning, April 21, 2024, at the Sangguniang Panlungsod.

“As we observed the worsening traffic condition of our city streets, I think it is high time now that we have conducted a study for the possible solutions,” he said.

Baluran highlighted the need for this study to alleviate daily traffic congestion, especially on major thoroughfares like the north and south lanes of Davao City. 

He expressed his intention to propose a resolution to authorize the thorough study, aiming to identify effective strategies for mitigating traffic congestion.

He then urged the council to treat his privilege speech as passed on first reading to facilitate a committee hearing.

To address the city’s traffic challenges, Baluran mentioned initiatives like the Peak Hours Augmentation Bus System (PHABS), specifically during peak hours, and the High Priority Bus System (HPBS), a modern bus system for Davao City that will operate on a core network of 137 kilometers and feeder routes covering 489 kilometers. These systems are expected to contribute significantly to decongesting city roads.

The 20th city council previously engaged the Department of Public Works and Highways-Davao Region (DPWH-Davao) regarding road project delays that contributed to heavy traffic in the city. This action followed concerns raised by Davao City Mayor Sebastian “Baste” Duterte regarding coordination issues between the department and the local government.

At the opening ceremony of Araw ng Dabaw, Duterte urged residents to remain patient amid the city’s traffic challenges, underscoring the country’s status as a “developing country” and emphasizing the importance of national government support for critical infrastructure projects like mass transportation. RGP

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