June 20, 2009 05:28 PM Saturday [ journal.com.ph ]
By: Jess V. Antiporda
WONDERING how to make responsible motorists out of the usually errant Filipino drivers? Bring them to Subic, a top official of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) says.
Proudly citing the world-class traffic management system in the Subic Bay Freeport, SBMA administrator Armand Arreza said that global-competitiveness could start with a most unlikely economic pursuit: traffic discipline.
“If we want to lure more investors and tourists into the country, we should create world-class facilities and support systems for investments, including the fast and orderly transfer of goods and other resources through efficient traffic management,” said Arreza.
“The state of vehicular traffic says a lot about a certain place, and investors take first notice of that when scouting for possible locations for their businesses,” Arreza explained.
The SBMA official also called on concerned agencies and government units to step up the traffic management system in the areas between Subic and Clark, which are target areas for expansion of the neighboring free ports, and pledged SBMA’s support in laying down the groundwork for an internationally-competitive investment environment in the area.
According to Arreza, Subic Bay’s traffic enforcement scheme, along with the American traffic system, has served as a model for the University of the Philippines’ (UP) Traffic Safety Model Zone -- a test bed for a new road order designed to be replicated everywhere in the Philippines.
Likewise, officials from the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEx), the Clark Freeport, Bataan, and even Cebu have also studied the Subic system while developing their own traffic management systems, he said.
Meanwhile, Lt. Benjamin Evia, SBMA traffic branch chief, explained that the Subic Bay Freeport has basically the same traffic laws as in other areas.
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