BAGUIO CITY October 15 – The City Council approved a resolution authorizing Mayor Benjamin B. Magalong to enter into a memorandum of agreement with the Department of Transportation (DOTR) for the conduct of a study on the development of a cable car system interconnecting Baguio City and adjoining local government units such as La Trinidad, Itogon, Sablan, Tuba, Tublay and parts of La Union.
The resolution authored by all members of the local legislative body states that some studies in various local government units such as Marikina City and Pasig City are being conducted through the transportation department to check the feasibility of building cable car systems in the said areas. Baguio City is also interested to avail of the same to help improve its mass transport system as part of initiatives to effectively and efficiently address the worsening traffic congestion around the city.
The resolution admitted that among the serious problems that the city is facing is traffic congestion so it is incumbent upon the present local officials to craft, formulate and implement strategies that will help in easing the burden of motorists caught in daily traffic jams, especially in the central business district.
One of the 15-point collective agenda of the present administration is aggressive traffic management through the use of appropriate engineering interventions that will effectively and efficiently address the current problems of motorists.
The resolution noted that one of the possible ways in addressing the city’s traffic problems is the putting in place of a state-of-the-art cable car system that will serve as one of the modes of mass transportation in the city.
Earlier, the local government already submitted its expression of intent to Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade for the city to be able to avail of the low carbon emission transport system that will benefit the city in terms of preserving and protecting the environment and addressing the traffic concerns aside from serving as an added tourist come-on.
Earlier, the Cordillera office of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST-CAR) embarked on the conduct of a pre-feasibility study for the establishment of the monorail system from La Trinidad up to Baguio City and within the central business district but the lack of funds to pursue the detailed feasibility study of the project caused the same to be temporarily shelved and awaiting funding support.
Initially, the projected cost of the monorail system using the locally developed Automated Guideway Transit (AGT) would be P3.8 billion for the 5.2-kilometer route from the Provincial Capitol area up to Slaughterhouse Compound and P29 billion for the 2.1-kilometer route from the Bonifacio St. rotunda up to North Drive passing through the central business district and various tourist destinations. **By Dexter A. See
