More than a thousand students, teachers, lawyers, employees and policemen have signed a petition asking Cebu City traffic officials to do away with a test reroute of public utility jeepneys (PUJ) with the 13C franchise.The 1,066 signatures, submitted to the office of Councilor Sylvan Jakosalem, was accompanied by a letter asking City Hall to restore the original route of 13C PUJs due to the inconvenience caused by the experimental rerouting. “We are hoping that our concerns, economic and safety for the students are considered. I hope that you can give us insights of our dilemma,” said the letter, written by Joseph Subong, director of student affairs of the University of Cebu’s (UC) main campus. Jakosalem said the rerouting helped ease congestion along Colon Street and N. Bacalso Avenue. But this may not justify the inconvenience the rerouting has caused commuters, especially students. Jakosalem said he would suggest during the next City Traffic Operations and Management (Citom) board meeting that the original 13C route be restored. “This should not go on, especially now that fares have increased,” he said. “The argument that commuters can walk the rest of the way does not justify compromising the security of students.” Subong said UC students relied on the original 13C route to get between UC’s main campus in downtown Cebu City and the school’s campus in barangay Banilad. Since the rerouting, UC students had to take another jeepney ride, which is an additional financial burden on students. The students could also walk to get to their destination, but this would expose them to the weather, crime and other hazards, especially at night. Students from the University of the Visayas and the University of San Carlos, as well as some employees of downtown establishments, also raised similar concerns. The experimental rerouting was implemented from July 1 to July 30, and involved cutting the 13C route through downtown Cebu City. Coming from Talamban, the normal 13C route involved going through barangay Pari-an, and proceed west through Colon Street, northwest into Borromeo Street straight towards the Cebu City Medical Center, and then east on N. Bacalso Avenue and straight through P. del Rosario Street before heading north on D. Jakosalem Street back to Talamban. The experimental route had the jeepneys heading west from Pari-an, then head directly north through D. Jakosalem Street back to Talamban. More than a week has passed since the rerouting ended. Citom is studying whether or not to make the rerouting permanent. Citom implemented the rerouting to address congestion along Colon Street. Drivers of 13C jeepneys said their income decreased due to the rerouting. Driver Edison Tabansa said his inability to access most of the original route cut earnings by 30 to 50 percent. He said commuters from downtown who would have normally taken a 13C jeepney to get to uptown areas instead take other jeepneys because of the rerouting. “It has made things more difficult, especially since fuel is getting more expensive. Our jeepneys are often vacant because commuters take other rides,” Tabansa said in Cebuano. He agreed that 13C jeepneys contribute to the congestion in Colon, but only because some drivers stop where they should not. He said the problem was nothing that strict implementation of traffic laws could not address. Jakosalem said the congestion caused by undisciplined 13C drivers is hoped to be addressed once the city deploys 80 new traffic enforcers soon. | 
