DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 29 April) – At least 100 leaders from the city government, regional government offices, the private sector, and other stakeholders are envisioning a “safe, inclusive, and efficient” transportation system here by 2050.
“Davao City will be a sustainable, green, metropolitan center with a safe, inclusive, efficient transportation system and enhanced mobility for people, goods, and services,” according to the vision agreed by stakeholders during a seminar-workshop at the Apo View Hotel here Monday morning.
During the seminar-workshop organized by the local government unit and national consulting firms Transport and Traffic Planners (TTPI) Inc. and CEST Inc., city administrator officer-in-charge Atty. Francis Mark Layug said “there is still much to be done” to the city’s transportation system, noting that it is one of the city government’s major concerns.
“The city government of Davao has worked to address this issue and continuously aims to become the model city for the Philippines that has a safe and sustainable transportation system. We hope the input and support in formulating specific plans and projects [in the city] will propel us to achieve not only the city’s overall transportation infrastructure but also urban development,” Layug said in a speech.
The vision aims to be the basis for several transport network plans to be made in the city, including its public and private transport plans, parking plans, and air, sea, and freight transport plans.
Assistant city administrator Tristan Dwight Domingo also said that the vision aims to come up with a “transport landscape by 2050,” including cost-cutting public transport fares, digitization of payments, regulation on private vehicle ownership, and stricter enforcement of commuter and driver discipline.
“People should expect [these changes] and be prepared, and unfortunately, or fortunately, we take the good with the bad as this is part [of the city’s development],” Domingo told reporters at the sidelines of the event.
“The city will incorporate the vision in its planning, not only in transportation but also in our CLUP (city land use planning),” he added.
Davao City Mayor Sebastian “Baste” Duterte earlier said during the Pasiugdang Pagsaulog on March 1 that Dabawenyos must be patient with the traffic situation in the city because the Philippines is a “developing country.”
“It is important to understand that in highly progressive areas, people tend to centralize. This means that when there are jobs and businesses coming, people centralize and flock together, affecting our population growth here,” Duterte said in Cebuano.
A week later, the city mayor called out the Department of Public Works and Highways—Region 11 (DPWH-11) to answer concerns about the destruction and repair of roads in the city.
This prompted city council hearings under suspended rules to have DPWH-11 explain their side, along with utility services Davao Light and Power Company and the Davao City Water District, and the City Transport and Traffic Management Board (CTTMB).
DPWH-11 spokesperson Dean Ortiz confirmed their attendance to appear in the city council’s hearing on Tuesday, April 30, to present a consolidated solution after their series of talks with the CTTMB.
Under Executive Order No. 31 series of 2019 signed by former mayor and now Vice President Sara Duterte, the CTTMB is composed of representatives from the City Administrator’s Office, City Transport and Traffic Management Office, City Planning and Development Office, City Engineer’s Office, and the chairperson of the Sangguniang Panlungsod’s Committee on Transport and Communication.
Other members of CTTMB include representatives from the Traffic Section of the Davao City Police Office, the Land Transportation Franchising Regulatory Board, the Land Transportation Office, DPWH-11, the Davao City Chamber of Commerce and Industry Inc., a representative from the transport groups, a representative from organizations of professionals, and a representative from a non-government organization.
Representatives from CTTMB were present in the seminar-workshop. (Ian Carl Espinosa / MindaNews).