Valenzuela City Mayor Rex Gatchalian recently launched a pioneering no-contact traffic apprehension system to address traffic management and road safety problems in his city.
The local government unit initiative supports President Rodrigo Duterte’s recent call for reclaiming public roads, which means clearing public streets from obstructions from both public and private vehicles.
“We are proud to announce that we are implementing the No-Contact Apprehension Program (NCAP) to instill traffic discipline among motorists and road users and in effect will enhance traffic flow leading to better productivity for our city. It will improve our road safety which will also be very beneficial to the people of Valenzuela,” Gatchalian emphasized.
Beginning Sept. 16, full enforcement of NCAP was implemented wherein high speed camera systems with full high definition technology installed in key intersections in the city to detect traffic violators and capture their vehicles’ plate numbers.
Motorists using Karuhatan Road are expected to be extra careful not to violate traffic rules, as the city government spearhead the strict traffic enforcement to improve and decongest vehicle flows.
Violators receive citation tickets by mail with the photo capture of their violation incident. Similar technology is being used in developed countries such as the United States, Europe and other parts of Asia.
“We are grateful that this system is finally being utilized because it will greatly help our traffic enforcers as apprehension would be more accurate and efficient, as well as, avoid ‘kotong’, if ever there are enforcers engaging in such. This is a big help to our enforcers and would teach traffic discipline to Valenzuelanon,” said Jose Valenzuela, officer-in-charge of the Public Order and Safety Group Department of Valenzuela.
A command center in the POSG leads the assessment of the violations and notifies erring motorists through their registrations on file as the system is linked with related government agencies such as Land Transportation Office. Offenders who fail to pay their violations risk problems in renewing their vehicle registrations.
Three camera systems are currently installed in MacArthur Highway particularly in Karuhatan and Gov. Santiago Roads and along People’s Park. The city will be installing a total of nine systems to fully implement the program.
“This pioneering project will surely teach traffic discipline to motorists in Valenzuela and we are optimistic that it will bring greater efficiency to the whole city. This also contributes to a quiet and orderly community, because the cameras will capture those violating our traffic laws,” Gatchalian pointed out.
LTO Asst. Secretary Edgar Galvante has shown his full support to the initiative and was the guest of honor during the launching.
