The Iloilo City Public Safety and Transportation Management Office (PSTMO) is calling for both private and public vehicles to adhere to city ordinances that prohibit “on-road parking” and indiscriminate loading and unloading by public utility jeepneys (PUJs).

“One of the common problems is that some are making the sidewalks as parking areas,” explained Transportation Management and Traffic Regulation Office officer-in-charge Robert Foerster. “People should use sidewalks but, because of parked vehicles, people use the road to walk instead and it creates traffic.”

“In order to avoid traffic congestion, always follow city ordinances,” he added.

Between January and last month, the city cited numerous drivers in violation of various tenets of Regulation Ordinance 393, which outlines penalties for motorists who violate traffic rules and regulations; along with PUJ operators in violation of City Ordinance 2015-045, or the revised Loading and Unloading Ordinance.

Earlier this month, PSTMO deployed 80 personnel to crackdown on jaywalking in the city.

“Based on our observations, there are a lot of people who are not using pedestrian lanes,” explained PSTMO head Jeck Conlu. “This causes traffic along that area since drivers stop to let them cross.”/WDJ