Tacloban is a regional center, it is clear that Eastern Visayas has this Highly Urbanized City as the central nervous system of everything. It has been rebuilding and most of the people are thriving.
With the new schemes of acquiring vehicles of which one can have a good vehicle with Japanese Brand for a smaller than 25% Down payment and the Chinese variant for 15 to 20 %, many of the riding public opted to buy via Financing their own vehicle. With the onset of the Electronic Bikes and the relatively low cost, they add up to the Urban Congestion. Growth rates are also higher in today’s world and the strides in health care including vaccination and new-born screening add up to the population growth and the congestion.
Traffic tends to be heaviest during morning (6:00–9:00 AM) and evening (5:00–8:00 PM) rush hours, especially along major roads like Real Street and the Avenida Imelda Avenue .
Mayor Alfred Romualdez recently issued an order prohibiting parking on both sides of Benigno Aquino Avenue during peak hours to ease congestion. TOMECO is installing clear signage and coordinating with other agencies to ensure compliance and public awareness. The city has begun constructing a P15-million, three-story parking structure near Quezon Boulevard. Once completed, it will accommodate around 200 vehicles and help decongest downtown streets like Justice Romualdez St. and Rizal Avenue.
In all, the commuter in us still sees several downsides and problems that people themselves are to be blamed. For one, the cleared sidewalks had become parking lots, look in any business establishment that has very limited sidewalk legroom, like that of RVDI and RMN Area among others, it is like their own backyard. The roads are overwhelmed with park private sedans and SUVs, everywhere. The Salazar and Zamora streets are not streets but parking areas of private vehicles which seemingly untouchables, nonchalant vehicle owners like that of the Burgos area from ADFC to the Atlanta area. It all seems to grow in congestion, and it had become a trademark of a city that has so many other good things, but the Traffic Congestion became a vivid mark of Urban decay. The TOMECo is doing its best and the City Government is serious in its campaign, the vehicle owners are not in anyway heeding their call.
Tacloban is our home, it deserves more than the impression of its being a parking city. It needs the cooperation of every single vehicle owner, if not then lets park all-over, double-parked triple parked and so on. For me that would be tragic for the people in the City of Hope.
