German specialist says solving traffic woes needs joint efforts

CEBU, Philippines - A German urban planning expert urged Cebu to solve its traffic problem if it is to achieve greater urban mobility.

Dr. Manfred Poppe, project manager of Connective Cities, a project commissioned by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, stressed that solving the traffic problem "needs the concentrated efforts and coalition of stakeholders" in the community.

Yesterday, Connective Cities held a dialogue in Cebu City with urban practitioners from Cebu and other cities in the world to share best practices towards solving urban development problems. Poppe said they chose to hold the dialogue in Cebu because it's a growing urban area and becoming more attractive among rural dwellers.

Poppe, who is also connected with German international development firm GIZ, emphasized that while solving urban problems like traffic is a "struggle", he said the government and other society stakeholders must collaborate in solving them.

"They all have to put together [the possible solutions]," Poppe said in an interview.

Poppe attributed Cebu's worsening traffic problem which, he said, also exists in other major cities around the world to the increasing number of cars.

"There's an increasing disposable income, thus increasing the number of people owning cars which are polluting the environment and causing congestion," the urban mobility expert explained.

He said many people are encouraged to buy cars because of the poor and "low quality" public transport system in Cebu.     

"And this is posing challenges for those who don't own a car," he added.

Poppe said it is vital that urban planning should be integrated, which means that transport systems, for example, should be designed in a way that eases mobility of people.

If Poppe were to suggest, he would want to reduce individual car ownership and implement the so-called "car pooling" as steps to solve traffic woes. Widening of roads, he said, is not always viable, saying that it negatively affects public spaces.

Study

Recently, a PwC study, which was released during the APEC CEO Summit earlier this week in Manila, ranked Manila and Cebu in the lower fourth among 28 cities across the Asia-Pacific region in terms of livability, sustainability and competitiveness. 

PwC, in its Building Better Cities report, grouped the indicators into five categories of urban excellence namely: environmental sustainability; culture and social health; connectivity; health and welfare; and economics.

The study was aimed to give city leaders a view of where they are now and inspire cities within the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation region to collaborate and solve pressing problems.

It can also be remembered that during one of the APEC meetings held in Cebu last October, the transportation ministers from New Zealand and Chinese Taipei had wanted Metro Cebu to improve its transportation system.  

Chi-Kuo Lin of Chinese Taipei's Ministry of Transportation and Communications had said the traffic situation in Cebu is a “nightmare”. He had suggested that Cebu must have a better bus system and resilient infrastructure for it to have a sustainable transport system.

"But, I know, as I know that the Philippine government had already been planning like the jeepney reform and also some other infrastructure projects. I believe that the future of the transportation in Cebu should be better than today,” he had said. (FREEMAN)