DOTC Secretary Joseph Abaya INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Transportation and Communications’ (DOTC) plans to bid out a planned Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system in Cebu by the second quarter of 2015, ahead of plans to implement this eventually in Metro Manila.
DOTC said in a statement Sunday that they would first complete a so-called detailed engineering design by early 2015. The department did not give other details, noting that the P10.6-billion system would run a 23-kilometer corridor, with 33 stations and 176 “high-quality” buses using green technology.
“The goal is not simply to modernize transport facilities and improve commuter experience, it is also to provide the public with a better quality of life. Due to the fast, efficient, and convenient features of BRTs, they save passengers the time normally wasted in traffic jams,” Transportation Secretary Joseph Abaya said in the statement.
“BRTs allow people to be more productive and to have better access to opportunities,” he added.
The Cebu BRT project of the DOTC, recently approved by the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), was first conceptualized as early as the 1990s. It will be financed by the World Bank through its Clean Technology Fund, according to the DOTC.
Nigel Paul Villarete, who was city administrator and later city planning officer of Cebu, was in charge of project development.
Villarete said in the same statement that “the fulfillment of the Cebu BRT will change the face of Metro Cebu forever, and will auger well for the metropolis to become a people-oriented, humane, sustainable, and livable city in the future, where the rich share the same ride with the poor.”
Although the first BRT-style system was operated in Curitiba, Brazil in 1974, it was popularized only in 2000 by the Transmilenio BRT system in Bogota, Colombia, which was a centerpiece achievement of its then-mayor, Enrique Peñalosa.
Peñalosa is recognized worldwide for transforming the living standards of Bogota residents through the Transmilenio BRT system. On its first year of implementation, Bogota’s air pollution dropped by 40%, the average travel time decreased by 32%, and road accidents decreased by 90 percent in areas plied by buses.
In a message sent to Villarete, Peñalosa said: “Please give my congratulations to all Cebuanos for the BRT they have decided to build! I congratulate most particularly all who have had to do with the efforts leading to the final decision to go ahead with the project.”
“The Cebu BRT will do many things: it will help Cebu’s mobility and save transportation time to tens of thousands of Cebuanos, which they will better spend with family and friends; it will help Cebu’s urban structure; it will be a symbol of democracy, as public transport users move faster than those in private cars; it will strengthen Cebuanos’ confidence in their capacity to create their destiny,” he said further.
DOTC said last week it would study a Manila BRT to serve the Quezon Circle-Manila City Hall route.
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