Will the proposed Light Railway Transit (LRT) system materialize in the six years of President Rodrigo Duterte’s term as promised by his Presidential Assistant to the Visayas Michael Dino?
Dino said there is a company that is interested in developing the LRT project for Cebu. And based on the enthusiastic response of these leaders, it seems the project isn’t lacking in support.
The Cebu City government, which is touting the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) as its main mass transport system, doesn’t want anything to do with the LRT unless it isn’t spending a centavo for it.
Last we heard though, it is the national government that will engage with international financial institutions to fund these projects.
We don’t know if the Cebu City government alone will pay for the BRT, but since it’s a government-to-government transaction, it may be understood that the BRT project will be shouldered by the Filipino taxpayers around the country.
Still, a deal can probably be made in which a major private company will operate the LRT, but if the BRT is to be operational within Cebu City only, the LRT can complement it by servicing all routes to and from the city at various towns and cities in Metro Cebu and the province.
Unless the Cebu City government plans to market the BRT to other parts of Metro Cebu, then it isn’t that concerned if proponents of the LRT build the system to service other towns and cities outside the area.
Transport and urban planners both domestic and foreign have said that Cebu needs both the LRT and BRT if it hopes to provide an affordable and accessible mass transport system in the province and Metro areas.
It has been said that only the very rich can afford to ride in the LRT which is inaccurate since mostly middle-class Manila commuters use the LRT and the Metro Railway Transport (MRT) to get from one city to another.
The problem with the LRT and the MRT is that owing to its location in the heart of most of the cities, it encroaches on sizable, valuable land area.
Its railways, like the flyovers, skywalks and the towering billboards, constrict both available road space and block everyone’s view of the skyline which is one of the few remaining connections we have with nature aside from the trees in an ever-increasing urban jungle landscape.
We’re not even mentioning the billions of pesos spent just to subsidize the LRT and MRT operations. If the LRT is to be effective, it has to connect the towns and cities located away from Metro Cebu, transporting its workers to and from their towns.
That will help ease the load of buses that service provincial routes as well as ease traffic going to and from Metro Cebu to the province. To be effective, the LRT shouldn’t be placed within the cities but on its outskirts to avoid constricting it and provide those working in Metro Cebu but live outside it a viable, efficient transport choice.