New traffic plan for Lagtang market mulled

CEBU, Philippines - As part of its strategies to make the new market in barangay Lagtang profitable, the Talisay City government plans to extend the route of public utility jeepneys plying the Tabunok-Cebu City course.

"Instead of Cebu City to Tabunok, we are proposing to extend the route to Lagtang so that passengers who may want to buy at the new market can do so without having to pay for another ride," said city administrator Richel Bacaltos.

This new setup, if approved, is said to bring in more customers to the new market, since as of the present, one of the major concerns raised by the buying sector is the accessibility to the area considering that tricycle drivers will double the fare for that distance.

Although the city has already pegged the fare to that direction to P9, a peso higher from the minimum, tricycle drivers still refuse to recognize it.

And while the city's traffic office is reportedly taking care of this issue, Bacaltos said apart from the 41D (Tabunok PUJs), the city is also thinking of expanding the routes of multicabs, which stop at Tabunok, to Lagtang.

Bacaltos said if the routes of these PUJs and multicabs are extended, an increase of sales at the Lagtang market is likely.

Several stalls in Lagtang reportedly have closed down following low sales.

But this was denied by Bacaltos who said vendors are already making a profit in the new market despite their barely one-month stay there.