Members and friends of our organization exchange by e-mail a lot of ideas about issues affecting Cebu. Here is one from Nick, which I hope will help shed light on some of the issues affecting us for which he brings a fresh perspective.
“I had the opportunity to live and own a business in New York City during the transition from Mayor Dinkins’ to Mayor Giuliani’s administration. The transformation of the city from under one administration to the next was truly astounding. The quality of life of the average New Yorker went from, perhaps miserable to secure and safe with a feeling of pride. The difference that I experienced owed to Giuliani’s attention to improving aspects of the quality of life of the average New Yorker.
“Whereas, no one wants to live in a city with violent crime, the reality is that this does not affect the average person, statistically speaking of course. Giuliani put his efforts into removing those daily nuisances that affected New Yorkers. Those were pan-handlers, the city’s abundance of homeless living on the streets and the squeegee guys who would stand on every corner. When you had to stop at a traffic light they would come over to your car and grab your windshield wiper, run a dirty rag over your windshield, and then put out their hand out for some change. If you didn’t give them any, they may break your wiper.
“I don’t know how Mayor Giuliani did it, but before long these nuisances no longer pestered the average New Yorker.
“As a resident of Cebu City, I have my list of quality of life issues that I would like to see erased. I would like to share these with you and get your input, as well as your own quality of life issues, that could be mitigated to make Cebu City a better city for us all to live in.
(1) TRAFFIC. “The traffic problem is getting worse in Cebu. The debate between flyovers and widening the roads rages. I feel that due to the congestion people are willing to try anything, because something must be done. Unfortunately, this is not a way to solve problems in the long term.
“I have to admit that until I started living in Cebu, I had no idea what a flyover was. Why? Because you don’t see them in New York, London, Singapore, Dubai or Miami (some of the cities where I lived or visited). Why? Because they don’t work. They simply transfer the choke point from one spot to another. While I agree with widening the roads, it seems this is just not possible in many of the city’s choke points because of the construction of the bordering structures.
“So what to do?
“In my opinion a lot of the traffic choke points are man-made. I’m referring not to the number of vehicles or road infrastructure but to bad driving habits.
“More specifically, I’m referring to the jeepneys stopping in the middle of the road to load and unload passengers. I have nothing against the jeepneys and actually feel that this system of public transportation needs to be improved to operate more efficiently. I know, it is not the most efficient means of public transportation, but it is the only system available and in lieu of a replacement, the current system should be improved.
“I observe this all day long, traffic jams caused by nothing other than a jeepney stopping in half of a two-lane road for passengers. The money invested/wasted (depending on your opinion) in flyovers can be used to construct proper stops for the jeepneys.
“A proper stop is one that is off of the main road so that traffic is not affected by the loading/unloading of passengers. This has the effect of a widened road without having to widen the entire road. Perry wrote a brilliant column in Cebu Daily News the other day, when he recommended mapping out the jeepney routes. This is essential to creating a system that does not overlap, covers all areas and contains proper stops.
“Now, I didn’t do an economic assessment of this idea. But I’m sure you can trade a single fly-over for multiple jeepney stops. It is just something I observed and through experiences and common sense would like to discuss as a possible solution to an issue at hand.
(2) POLLUTION. “Pollution is another quality of life issue that I experience here on a day to day basis. Specifically, I choke on fumes from some of the ill-maintained jeepneys and vehicles. Why not enforce a standard for pollution control for on-road vehicles? It doesn’t have to be elaborate like machines that measure emissions. It can be as simple as a vehicle that emits a consistent, steady, visible smoke from the tailpipe. Not, while accelerating or travelling up a hill, but consistently and steady while operating. The City Traffic Operations Management already writes summonses for not crossing the crosswalk down on Colon Street. Why not add one more item to their functions?
(3) ENVIRONMENT. “Who doesn’t want a cleaner, greener environment? Now with regard to the environment one of my issues is with people, men, urinating anywhere they please. Again, this is a simple behavior that is easily corrected through law enforcement. I don’t think this is a lot to ask for. I know Cebu is not Singapore, but men urinating all over the place is not an image a city wants to portray.”