Tom backs Rama on alternate transport

Despite being its chief proponent, former congressman Tomas Osmeña said he is open to another alternative mass transport system other than the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT).

Osmeña said Cebu City should already have a mass transport system even if it isn’t the BRT because of the city’s growing population.

He earlier proposed that the BRT be implemented by phase in order to cut down on costs.

Rama, who visited the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) office in Manila last Friday, said he is inclined to consider their Automated Gateway Transit (AGT) as an alternative to the BRT.

But unlike the DOST design, Rama said he wanted Cebu City’s AGT to run on rails built on the existing road rather than elevated rails which could ruin the city’s landscape.

“Lisud kaayo nga mag sige ta ug yawyaw ug BRT unya ang presidente gusto di ay ug LRT (Light Railway Transit) (It’s hard for us to talk continually about the BRT and then the president wanted the LRT),” Rama said.

Rama was supposed to leave for Manila last week to meet with Transportation and Communications Secretary Jose Emilio Abaya to ask for updates on Cebu City’s BRT proposal.

But he told reporters that Abaya was still busy attending the 2014 budget hearings.

Cebu City’s BRT system is now pending before the  DOST for re-introduction into the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) board.

Atty. Rafael Yap, operations chief of the Cebu City Integrated Traffic Operations Management (Citom), said the AGT is environment-friendly because AGT buses run using renewable energy.

But Yap said the Cebu City government spent almost two years on the BRT pre-feasibility and feasibility studies alone.

“If we entertain the new concept (of the AGT) then we will have to start from scratch.  It would be a waste because we already invested so much effort on the BRT program,” Yap told reporters. Chief of Reporters Doris C. Bongcac and Correspondent Edison delos Angeles