One of the main thoroughfares in Cagayan de Oro City. (PNA file photo by Nef Luczon)
CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY – The city government here is pushing for an electronic road pricing system and a transport authority body under the proposed Local Transport Master Plan until 2030.
Nonito Oclarit, chief of the city’s Roads and Traffic Administration, said the local transport master plan for submission to the City Council for review and approval will focus on sustainable modes of public and private transport, with an emphasis on non-motorized transport like bicycles.
"We need to build more pedestrian and bicycle lanes, parking facilities, and elevated walkways," Oclarit said in a statement Thursday.
To help regulate traffic flow, Oclarit proposed that an electronic road pricing system be enforced, similar to what is implemented in Metro Manila.
"In Manila, they charge toll fees on specific road networks to regulate vehicular flow (during peak hours)," he said, noting that a similar congestion pricing system is being implemented in New York City in the United States and London, United Kingdom.
Oclarit said the Cagayan de Oro Transport Authority will assume similar functions done by the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority, which regulates public and private transport in Metro Manila along with the Department of Transportation.
Meanwhile, amendments to the traffic code will allow the three-wheeled rickshaws, locally known as "bao-bao," to ply the city's national highways.
In a report, Councilor James Judith II pushed for the amendment, citing a memorandum circular of the Land Transportation Office that would legally allow rickshaws to pass through the national highways provided they meet certain conditions. (PNA)
