Firm to deploy shuttle service for Sinulog ’24
| 📷 PIO/Jinky Rosit
CEBU CITY (Jan. 19, 2024) – The city’s joint venture partner at South Road Properties (SRP) has put up a traffic light system that will use artificial intelligence (AI) in its operations.
Filinvest Land, Inc. (FLI) installed the facility along the T-junction of Cebu South Coastal Road with El Pardo St., the south border of City di Mare (CdM), its 40-hectare JV project with the Cebu City Government.
Meanwhile, the homegrown company disclosed it will deploy coaster-size buses that will provide free rides for communters going to SRP and back. In fact, it will serve the public and will operate on a test run three buses during the Sinulog grand showdown at SRP on Sunday, Jan. 21, 2024.
FLI is a platinum sponsor of Sinulog sa Sugbo Philippines 2024 by providing its civic center at CdM as venue for Sinulog activities for the second time after last year.
Already installed, FLI started to test the traffic lights yesterday, disclosed Eng’r. Gwen Sala, FLI assistant general manager for CdM, during Patigayon Sugbo over Sugboanon Channel this morning.
“It’s an adoptive (system). It’s sensor based. It’s smart. So, it detects the volume of traffic,” she said, explaining that the data allows a seamless flow of traffic.
“Siya (the AI) mao na ang mo-program on that specific intersection,” Sala said, noting that the system will determine enough time for vehicles to flow along the junction.
It works in a way that the flow along the main thoroughfare will not be impeded when the lights switch the flow to allow some vehicles to turn left from the south and from west of the intersection, she explained.
“That project is really to improve the connectivity and accessibility in the area, and ensure the safety of the motorists and pedestrians,” she added, noting that the system has a pedestrian component.
The intersection will serve clients of city offices located in the area along with CdM residents at the Amalfi and Sanremo Oasis medium-rise residential condominiums and iL Corso lifestyle mall, noted Sala.
FLI projects to have the traffic lights operational by mid-February 2024, she added.
City offices near University of the Philippines (UP) campus include the Cebu City Transportation Office (CCTO), Department of General Services and soon the Department of Engineering and Public Works.
The control system of the AI-aided traffic lights is also set up at CCTO, according to John Paul Escario, FLI GM for the Visayas.
Two weeks ago, Councilor Rey Gealon floated the idea through a resolution in the City Council to use AI in the management of vehicular traffic in the city and ensure seamless flow of emergency vehicles.
“The use of AI would greatly benefit Filipinos, in general, and Cebuanos, in particular, as it would improve the traffic situation and would save time, allowing for a smoother transportation,” noted the resolution Gealon sponsored.
Gealon noted technology now allows the extensive application of AI, which is emerging as a significant benefit in diverse sectors.
IT experts noted that AI will revolutionize urban transportation, as it will analyze real-time traffic data that allows a system to make well-informed decisions and improve the efficiency of traffic flow.
Meanwhile, Sala announced that Sinulog revelers may take the three mini-buses it will field during Sinulog day from 10AM to 10PM.
One will serve commuters from Fuente Osmeña to Vestil St. in Mambaling, another between Talisay and Inayawan, and the third from Inayawan to iL Corso, just a short walk to the Sinulog grandstand.
FLI president Tristan las Marias first floated the idea to operate buses from SRP to various points in the metropolis to Mayor Mike Rama when he visited Las Marias and FLI chair Jonathan Gotianun in August 2022.
| PPRMN/cte
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