Philippine cities share experience on traffic and transport planning; maps out agenda towards sustainable transport
The League of Cities of the Philippines (LCP) conducted its Knowledge Sharing Conference of the Traffic and Transport Management for Philippine CDS Cities Project on March 16, 2015 in Quezon City.
The project, supported by the Cities Alliance and the World Bank, encourages cities to embrace sustainable transport concepts and mainstream these into their regular development planning activities. It supported five (5) pilot cities in the preparation of traffic and transport management plans to respond to their respective local development requirements, as well as eleven (11) observer cities to maximize the number of beneficiaries under this technical assistance project.
According to Mayor Evelyn Uy of Dipolog City, the LCP Focal Mayor for said project, “this project is considered by the LCP as a timely initiative because the rapid urbanization of the country presents both opportunities and challenges that cities, as centers of growth and front line service providers, need to contend with. In the face of an urbanizing economy, effective transportation management is critical to support growth and equally important, helps the poor gain access to basic services as well as opportunities to be mainstreamed in the growing economy”.
The challenge of transportation management calls for out of the box thinking and bold and timely action on the part of cities especially in light of rapid urbanization, as underscored in the presentation by Dr. Ke Fang, World Bank Lead Transport Specialist.
The conference facilitated presentation of project lessons, discussions on priority transport issues, and identification of key courses of actions that cities could pursue jointly with national government agencies and development partners. “As culminating activity, this conference consolidates and communicates project experiences and provides a springboard for the LCP to pursue downstream action to replicate and translate these into policies and concrete projects”, according to Mr. Christopher Pablo, World Bank Senior Urban Specialist and Project Task Team Leader.
The event was highlighted by the symbolic signing of the “Declaration of Support for Sustainable Transport Agenda for Philippine Cities”, which is envisioned to provide impetus for the LCP to pursue dialogues and partnerships with national government agencies and development partners to mobilize support for concrete projects.