The City Planning and Development office recently received the document of a study conducted by the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority on the traffic situation of Iloilo City. This was a collaborative effort and help from the MMDA office.

Quoting a part of the file, here are the observed road and sidewalk traffic conditions and situations in various parts of the city.

1. Obstruction on the sidewalk forced pedestrian to walk on the carriageway.

2. Delinquent motorist obstructing the pedestrian path.

3. Both sidewalks and carriageways are being used for personal consumption.

4. Commercial signage obstructing part of sidewalk and carriageway.

5. Road level of service not fully utilized due to obstructions and illegal parking.

6. Lack of pedestrian footpath due to high roadside friction.

7. Illegal parking. Occupying one lane of the road tremendously affects the smooth flow of traffic.

8. Lack of necessary pavement markings and traffic signages.

9. Tricycle, pedicabs, and jeepney terminals obstructing the carriageway and pedestrians.

10. Inappropriate and substandard traffic signage.

I have also personally observed their findings whenever I walk the city streets going home from the office at the city hall. City proper roads especially on the business street areas are usually full of various road obstructions and the traffic flow is very slow.

MMDA also included in their report the Level of Service which is sort of an assessment to rate the flow of traffic in a certain road or intersection. It is defined below as:

The level of service is a qualitative measure used to relate to the quality of motor vehicle traffic service. There are six levels to define this measure and are lettered from A to F.

Details of the six levels of service are below:

Level of Service A: Free-flow traffic with individual users virtually unaffected by the presence of others in the traffic stream.

Level of Service B: Stable traffic flow with a high degree of freedom to select the speed and operating conditions but with some influence from other users.

Level of Service C: Restricted flow that remains stable but with significant interactions with others in the traffic stream. The general level of comfort and convenience declines noticeably at this level.

Level of Service D: High-density flow in which speed and freedom to maneuver are severely restricted and comfort and convenience have declined even though flow remains stable.

Level of Service E: Unstable flow at or near capacity levels with poor levels of comfort and convenience.

Level of Service F: Forced traffic flow in which the amount of traffic approaching a point exceeds the amount that can be served. LOS F is characterized by stop-and-go waves, poor travel times, low comfort and convenience, and increased accident exposure.

We are hoping with the joint forces of the various offices of the city government that we can come up with an ideal set of solutions and its proper implementation.

In the Local Shelter Plan for Iloilo City, there was the seven-step process identified that we can reiterate in our Shelter Plan project for the subject P201.1. The process undertaken by the City Government of Iloilo in preparing its Local Shelter Plan 2016–2025 shows the 7 main activities:

1. Review of the Chapter on Housing of the 2011–2020 CLUP and the unfinished draft of the 2009 City Shelter Plan
2. Data Updating
3. Situational Analysis
4. Goals and Objectives Setting
5. Identification of Strategies
6. Designing of a Monitoring and Evaluation System
7. Preparation of an Implementation Plan.

The 1st main activity undertaken by Iloilo City was the review of the city’s 2011–2020 CLUP, which contained a chapter on housing, which substantially discussed the city’s shelter needs.

The 2nd main activity was the updating of data, which included those culled from the 2011–2020 CLUP and the computations made in 2009 for the draft City Shelter Plan. The activity also included the retrieval of documents and gathering of information from different agencies, which became the basis of computation or inputs for analysis.

The 3rd main activity was the conduct of a situational analysis which looked into the city’s current and emerging housing situation and needs. The activity also involved the identification of the type of assistance that the city can extend to its targeted housing beneficiaries.

The 4th main activity was vision, goals and objectives setting, wherein the city’s vision, goals and objectives or targets of the local housing programs were set.

The 5th main activity was the Identification of Strategies.

The 6th main activity was the designing of a monitoring and evaluation system, which is intended to provide implementors with immediate and relevant information that will help ensure effective and efficient delivery of shelter and shelter-related services all through the plan implementation process.

The 7th and last main activity was the preparation of an implementation plan. Whereas in formulating strategies the composite team answered the question: “How can the problem be solved?” The implementation plan answers the question: “What needs to be done” by outlining the details involved in actually undertaking the strategy.

Posting this kind of topic is more like a reminder for me but also for my readers to be aware of the things and programs that the government involves to the community. This one in particular is ‘celebrated’ every March by the Bureau of Fire Department in which they started the first day with an early morning motorcade around the city. Here is a video posted in Facebook by the Bureau of Fire Protection Iloilo City.

See the video below.

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