Articulated bus tested for MRT riders

By: Miguel R. Camus - 11 years ago

A dry run is set Wednesday for an articulated bus that will run from Quezon City to Pasay City, to see if such elongated vehicles can be efficiently operated on the country’s busiest highway. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—Aside from the MRT’s express train service, the government is testing another option for the thousands of commuters who rely on the elevated railway system on Edsa.

A dry run is set Wednesday for an articulated bus that will run from Quezon City to Pasay City, to see if such elongated vehicles can be efficiently operated on the country’s busiest highway.

Manufactured by MAN, the articulated bus being tested comprises two rigid passenger sections with a pivoting joint, allowing greater capacity without sacrificing maneuverability.

In an interview, Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) Chair Winston Ginez explained that if the vehicle is found to be safe and viable for the kind of traffic on Edsa, the government would entertain proposals from the private sector to operate an articulated bus service.

“Through the articulated bus, we can have a temporary solution to the overcrowding at the MRT stations while we’re waiting for the arrival of the new trains,” Ginez added.

The dry run will be held Wednesday morning exclusively for MRT’s southbound passengers. The bus will pick up riders starting at the North Edsa station, make stops at Buendia, Ayala and Taft stations, turn at SM Mall of Asia rotunda, and end the trip near Naia Terminal 2.

Also starting Wednesday is the MRT’s express train service, wherein trains will skip some stations to take passengers directly between Quezon City and Makati City and Pasay City during peak hours.

Like the express service, the articulated bus is being explored as a way to ease congestion on the railway line that serves over half a million passengers daily, well above MRT’s designed capacity of 350,000 riders per day.

New trains procured from China’s Dalian Locomotive & Rolling Stock Co. won’t arrive until 2015, transport officials earlier said.