Mayor Benjamin B. Magalong directed traffic enforcers to strictly implement the Number Coding Ordinance of the city in a bid to lessen vehicle congestion in the central business district.
He said there are at least 980 to a thousand coding violators daily but only about 35 to 42 are being apprehended based on webcam road scanning at the Smart City Command Center.
Data from the Baguio City Police Office-Traffic Enforcement Unit (BCPO-TEU) showed a total of 2,121 coding apprehensions in January and 1,767 in February.
Last year, BCPO-TEU recorded 27,895 coding apprehensions with a P500 penalty on first offense.
Since 2003, the city government has implemented the Coding Ordinance to manage traffic at the CBD from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
The Coding Ordinance is one of traffic reduction schemes in the city.
Visitors are not exempt from the coverage of the coding ordinance being implemented from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. within the central business district and major thoroughfares.
Coding of vehicles with license plate ending in 1 and 2 is Monday; 3 and 4 – Tuesday; 5 and 6 – Wednesday; 7 and 8 – Thursday; 9 and 0 – Friday.
“To solve Baguio’s vehicular traffic woes would entail behavioral change from our citizens by becoming part of the solution,” the mayor said.
He added the majority or 42 percent of the daily motorists plying city roads are taxi units followed by private cars at 30 percent; motorcycles at 16 percent; public utility jeepneys at eight percent and only four percent of buses. – Jessa Mardy Samidan
May 4, 2024
