The Duterte Administration is looking at implementing Bus Rapid Transit Systems . . . This should be welcome news to proponents of a BRT system in Cebu which is awaiting the go signal for bidding . . .
During the Aquino Administration, the proposal to establish Bus Rapid Transit or BRT systems as mass transport solutions for congested urban areas gained headway. The BRT system proposes to provide dedicated lanes on major thoroughfares, exclusively for use of buses which will run on schedule along a route with designated stops. One such project has reached the stage where it was supposed to be bid out to proponents. This is the 16.billion peso Cebu BRT project which proposes to build a 16-kilometer bus way, including stations with needed facilities along Osmena Boulevard, the Fuente Osmena Circle to the Cebu Provincial Capitol, and another bus way towards the South Road Properties. Heading into the last months of the Aquino Administration it was decided to postpone the scheduled bidding for the BRT Cebu Project till the entry of the next administration. According to news reports, Cebu BRT project head Rafael Yap said they hope to brief transport officials of the Duterte Adminstration about the project and hopefully being the bidding process for the first two construction packages as well as right-of-way acquisition within the next 100 days. Earlier, Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade indicated that BRT systems are among projects that he says as doable. The Department of Transportation has in particular suggested that the Light Rail Transit 2 be converted into a BRT system.
There is pressure on the Department of Transportation to immediately find solutions to the problem of inadequate mass transportation in Metro Manila and other urban areas of the country . . . Many are hoping the pressure won’t lead to hasty decisions that could prove costly or ineffective in the long run . .
