DOTr Wants Bus Rapid Transit in Cebu to Happen

Department of Transportation (DOTr) Secretary Arthur Tugade now wants to push through with the implementation of a bus rapid transit (BRT) in Cebu City after initially saying that the said project is not feasible.

Tugade conducted an inspection of the 23-kilometer route of the BRT with representatives of the World Bank. The BRT is part of the Integrated Transportation System (ITS), which is one of DOTr's plan to address the traffic congestion in the Queen City of the South.

Aside from the BRT, the ITS includes: (1) a point-to-point (P2P) bus system; (2) a monorail in Lapu-Lapu City; and (3) a Light Rail Transit (LRT) from Carcar to Danao and Mandaue to Airport.

The DOTr plans to synchronize various transportation solution such as the ITS to adhere traffic in Metro Cebu. In line with this, Presidential Assistant for the Visayas Michael Dino said that the BRT will only be allowed on three-lane roads as it can affect other ITS and existing transport systems.

Last September 2014, the World Bank's Board of Executive Directors approved a financing package for the Cebu Bus Rapid Transit Project. The financial package amounts to USD141 million (around PHP7.5 billion), consisting of loans from the World Bank (USD116 million/PHP6.2 billion) and the Clean Technology Fund (USD25 million/PHP1.3 billion). The financing package will be used for the construction of a 23-km BRT system in Cebu City.