Baguio traffic app set up for direction assist

By Aileen P. Refuerzo

BAGUIO CITY -- – An online web application that will provide traffic information and directional assistance to motorists has been deployed to aid in mitigating traffic congestion during crowd-drawing events of the city starting with the street dancing and float parade events of the Baguio Flower Festival. 
    The online traffic assistance website can be accessed through the link https://alternateroutes.baguio.gov.ph/.
    The traffic innovation application developed by the Management Information and Technology Division of the City Mayor’s Office will provide motorists information on what alternative routes to take to avoid congested roads to their destinations as well as what roads to avoid due to closures or inaccessibility.
    It will also contain other useful information like the location of public utility jeepney terminals in the city and basic traffic rules being implemented in the city like the number coding, motorcycle routes, truck ban and the like.
    Traffic management had become a challenge for city authorities since tourist exodus had become a weekly affair after the easing up of pandemic-related restrictions.
    Mayor Benjamin Magalong said traffic experts including the Baguio City Police Office Traffic Enforcement Unit and the City Engineering Office Traffic and Transportation Management Division continue to be on top of the situation implementing measures and adjusting existing ones to address the problem at hand.
    This is while the city is working out a long-term solution to finally address the impasse particularly the smart transportation and mobility project.

City Tourism Office Aloysius Mapalo said tourist arrival in the city had gone back if not exceeded the pre-pandemic level with an average of 100,000 tourists recorded weekly last December.