Traffic nightmares

Dave Achondo

CAGAYAN de Oro’s daily traffic nightmares aren’t just about having too many vehicles and less roads to travel on. In fact, it is caused by vendors who, deliberately and without authority, sell their products on the roads, public utility vehicle drivers who pick up pedestrians just about anywhere they want to, and those “trisikad” drivers who “think” that because their vehicles are powered by foot, traffic rules do not apply to them.

I understand that people have to make a living one way or another, but if you have driven around this place during the evening rush hour, you will definitely feel the urge to scream at them for being inconsiderate.

Aside from that, you will also see that they are occupying more than 50 percent of the roads around Barangays 31, 32 and 37 as if the roads were designed for vending. Whoever is in charge of checking and keeping it clear for vehicles is turning a blind eye to the violations.

Hello, RTA! I think more than 10 years of the same problem would have been enough to prompt RTA to really do something about it other than letting it be.

Who in their right mind is allowing these vendors to sell ala-carte, place tents on the road and RTWs? I thought someone promised “change” but every day for the past decade, it has always been like this and Kagay-anons are sick of it.

I have only seen Cogon market really cleared of vendors once, and it was during Emano’s time but that didn’t even last a week. I don’t even want to discuss Agora and Carmen market because these areas, too, are giving people traffic nightmares.

The question is, how can city hall allow this? The people in charge of facilitating traffic is simply brushing off the issue over and over.

A traffic enforcer who wants to stay anonymous tells me that every time they reprimand these vendors, they move out but they would return once the enforcers are gone. They repeat it the following day, and so, the RTA people got tired and quit trying because the vendors won’t listen. Mosukol pa gyud daw?

The road around Cogon market is such a wide road a small plane can even land there yet the vendors with tents and food stands are eating up much of the space, obstructing the vehicular traffic flow. One vendor told me: “Naa man me permit gikan sa barangay.”

Then you have the trisikad drivers. These self-proclaimed princes of the streets don’t normally bother anyone in the main roads. In my place, you usually see them around public schools, waiting for passengers. But I am wondering why they pretend to be driving mere bicycles? Those contraptions also take up a decent amount of road space. Why are they permitted to go around on one-way streets? Have you seen the “Trendline” area? It’s quite amusing to see that it is a one-way street but the trisikad drivers freely go about their merry way and pass through as if it isn’t congested. I know for a fact that what they are doing isn’t legal let alone safe for the drivers and passengers. So why do it? Because they still believe that the laws that apply to motorized vehicles do not apply to them because they are bicycles? What?

The root cause of the traffic problem are the people who are undisciplined and the drivers’ lack of training and clear understanding of traffic rules. I wish someone would look into this.