MANILA, Philippines — The construction of the three concourses of the EDSA Busway has started, the Department of Transportation (DOTr) announced in a statement issued on Tuesday.
Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade said the facilities, touted to be state-of-the-art transportation hubs, would change the way commuters travel and give Edsa a facelift.
The concourses will be built at SM North Edsa, Megamall, and Mall of Asia
“I’m giving my heartfelt thanks because, at last, the public will see real change on EDSA through the EDSA Busway Concourse. It will be safer for passengers to get on and off vehicles,” Tugade said in Filipino in an online briefing.
“It will be more convenient to take a ride because there will be ticket booths, a concierge, and turnstiles for the automatic fare collection system. Our system will be friendly to our senior citizens and persons with challenges and disabilities,” he added.
DOTr said that the concourses — artist’s renditions of which were also posted on its Facebook page — would ensure that commuting would be safe and convenient, especially for senior citizens, persons with disabilities, and pregnant women.
There would be ticketing booths and Automatic Fare Collection System (AFCS) turnstiles, and concierges in the concourses.
“The concourses will further boost the efficiency of the EDSA Busway, a joint project of the DOTr, Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), and Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA). The EDSA Busway was carried out at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in June 2020 to provide seamless movement of high-capacity Public Utility Buses (PUBs),” the DOTr noted.
DPWH Secretary Mark Villar and MMDA Chairperson Benhur Abalos congratulated the DOTr for pushing the project forward.
“I thank and congratulate Secretary Art Tugade for such a monumental accomplishment. He has really changed the landscape of mass transit, especially on EDSA,” Villar said.
Abalos noted that the concourses could significantly shorten travel time for commuters as the existing EDSA busway system had already ushered in a big contribution.
“There’s a 47.3% average decrease in travel among public utility buses traveling along EDSA from January 2020 to January of this year while there is 89.81% or 9.61 kilometers per hour average increase in travel speed of our PUBs for the similar period,” the MMDA chief said.
“All these figures are the sweet fruit of labor that we’ve long wanted our commuters and motorists alike to experience,” he added.