⌛ traffic in Dumaguete

@JoeMabini -- i'd say edsa pavement makes it the most cruel of all national highways with all those potholes and surface unevenness! cops are more dense in the smaller streets but yes 'chocolate' boys (ones in brown with big bikes) are the ones who's gonna charge you the most. add to that the mmda (the light blue guys), the pnp (the dark blue guys), then the local guys (colour depends on the city). confusing really for a lot of drivers!

as for binondo and the rest of the manila area, its the dense smog thats mostly going to spoil your travel should you be on a bike. if you're on a car don't you park anywhere else you'll have your sidemirrors missing, etc.!

i'd say dumaguete still is a haven, having experienced metro manila streets!

 

I agree with you, the smog is tough on you, especially when the jeeps belch right into your face and some of the roads leave a lot to be desired. The Fort is nice though. My point was that the people seem to give way for motos here and I have even witnessed a turn signal or two. My overall experience is that drivers are more courteous from my personal experience.Being a foreigner might have something to do with it though. Maybe they think I am crazy and want to give way.

 

red yellow and green? too many colors it works by being gracious to others remember this is a 3rd world country like the home we are used to adapt and accept mates!

 

Love Driving in Duma

I spend about 1 month every 2 years and I really like driving in Duma. Call me strange but it is organized chaos. We have all these rules in Canada, lights etc. and there are many more fatalities and accidents than I see in the Philippines. You never have to go far and in that environment why would you ever be in a rush? My commute in canada is about 1 hour, snow, ice and gridlock, cover +/-70 km in that time. Speed kills.

My only reservation is driving at night and coming across so many people on bikes without lights. I slow way down and give my self lots of time.

After 40 years in Canadian traffic I only hope I am so lucky as to be upset and stuck in Duma traffic full time one day.

 

Does that mean that, if there was no need for traffic lights the past 500 years in Dumaguete, it always has to stay that way? Does that mean a 3rd world country has no room for improvement?

It is not like taking land away from a native tribe to distinguish them ....

The situation at the Robinsons crossing was bad already before Robinsons actually. Now it is a mess. Now they close the crossing for left turns if you come from south in rush hours because the traffic aid guys cant keep up anymore. What happens now? Right, they cross straight and all rush through the caltex station to go to the hypermart direction.

Now I believe in the next 10 years or so they develope a business village behind robinsons and the call center. So everything is developing, but traffic management is supposed to be stuck in the 90ies when the situation was totally different?

 

Just for your info, the only 'city' in Negros Oriental that ever had traffic lights was Tanjay, a long time ago in the distant past. They were only working infrequently (usually flashing orange, I certainly never saw the red or green lights, maybe someone stole the bulbs). Anyway, as far as I recall, no one actually knew what they meant so they were ignored, by that I mean, no one slowed down for the flashing orange warning.

 

Yes, I can believe that.
As long as police is driving around their private bikes in uniforms without lights at midnight and female traffic controllers on high heels texting while driving while listening music from a headset, nobody will care much about some colored lights :D
As long checkpoints only point of interest are the registration papers for christmas money, nobody will either...

But my point is, that even in a "wild south east" (atleast traffic wise) city Dumaguete is today, there is room for improvement. The traffic is overwhelming the city more and more the next few years and it will not go away itself.

 

Only point I query is that we seem to be in the slightly southern centre of the Philippines (as per my atlas) !:D The rest I agree with!:D

 

I like what you said.

 

Hi all
Quick question, are the road works heading out of town finished yet?

all the best.