By Zaldy Comanda Baguio City – The city government is proposing an ordinance that will impose congestion and ecology fees on visitors using motorized vehicles as well as operators of delivery vans/trucks. “The unending traffic fiasco in the Summer Capital has become an inevitable reality. Extraordinary times require extraordinary measures and while we are no experts in traffic management, we must now make a bold move to tame traffic as our city is drowning in vehicles,”  said Councilor Edgar Avila, who authored the proposal. He said that a P200 to P400 congestion charge will be imposed only during holidays. The P200 per day shall be imposed on motorists who shall use their motor vehicles (cars, jeeps and vans) in the city. A similar charge shall be imposed for delivery vans and trucks, while there will be a P400 charge per day for tourist buses. Avila’s proposal also suggests a tourist ecology fee, which is set to be a one-time payment of P50 for both local and foreign tourists. The measure was passed in first reading during the City Council’s regular meeting this week. Failure to pay the fee will be a violation of the law and has a corresponding fine of P1,000. “Letting congestion essentially flourish unchecked would be likely to create political backlash from our constituents, discouragement for commercial investors, dangerous problems for emergency access,” Avila said. Avila added that the ordinance is aimed at providing an alternative solution to at least discourage the influx of motor vehicles and/or source funds to finance traffic related development plans. All fees collected will then be deposited to a special trust fund to be exclusively used by the Traffic Management Council to develop a traffic system that is fined tuned for the requirements of the city, said Avila. The tourist ecology fee, on the other hand, will be used by the City Environment and Parks Office to augment its funds to protect the environment and parks of Baguio.