The City Transport and Traffic Management Office announced Thursday that its anti-jaywalking operations has resulted in more than more than 200 violators caught during the first day of implementation.
CTTMO chief Rhodelio Poliquit told Edge Davao that his office began implementing the ordinance at 6:00 am.
According to Poliquit, the violators were apprehended and were given impromptu lectures.
He added that apprehensions will be done via the release of temporary operating permits to erring pedestrians.
Covered by the jaywalking ordinance are the pedestrians who do not use designated crosswalks or lanes, including pedestrian overpasses.
The penalties ranged from a fee of P100 for the first offense up to four hours of community service.
Poliquit said that the community service will be coursed through the City Social Services and Development Office.
The campaign against jaywalking comes as one of the priority areas of Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio’s administration.
According to a policy document, the city government will be pushing for harsher measures against undisciplined pedestrians who tend to ignore pedestrian lanes.
In the city, pedestrian lanes receive little value especially with slow vehicle speed limits of only 30 kph in the downtown streets.
However, accidents still happen.
“Pedestrians should also be as responsible as the motorists and follow the rules,” Poliquit pointed out.
The city’s traffic code, meanwhile, penalizes passengers who alight or board public utility jeepneys and taxis in prohibited areas.
“There were a lot of incidents where the driver was the one penalized for dropping passengers outside designated stops even if it was the passengers’ fault,” Poliquit said, adding that the city government wants to change that.
Poliquit also made sure that the ordinance would not affect the traffic flow in the city.
