(Eagle News) – The Committee on Transportation of the House of Representatives approved on Wednesday, January 18, House Bill 544 or the Traffic Crisis Act of 2016 that seeks to provide remedies to the traffic problem in the country through emergency powers.
There were 12 amendments made to the bill during the resumption of the committee hearing.
The committee said the traffic crisis was concentrated in metropolitan areas such as in Metro Manila, Metro Cebu, and Davao City, and that it was limited to land transportation.
The bill would call for the creation of a single traffic authority headed by a traffic chair to be appointed by President Rodrigo Duterte. The traffic czar would then craft a traffic management plan within 90 days that will “harmonize and unify” all existing traffic regulations in the affected areas of the country, according to Rep. Cesar Sarmiento.
The bill also tasks the traffic czar to make a “route rationalization” within six months.
The Traffic Crisis Act of 2016 will not lead to the abolition of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA)
