Based on initial details unveiled to the public, the Cebu Lightrail Transit (LRT) won’t in any way displace the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project already set aside for Cebu City years ago.
In fact it would even complement the BRT which is mostly focused in Cebu City and if proven successful may be considered for expansion to other areas whose residents mostly work in the Queen City of the South of whom they are many.
The initial description for the elevated LRT project to be supposedly undertaken at no cost to the government would traverse through the cities of Naga, Carcar, Talisay and the towns of San Fernando, Minglanilla in the south and up to Danao City in the north.
If it does pass through Cebu City, it is hoped that it would be confined mostly in the outskirts and not through the heart of the city nor its main city streets which is already congested as it is with passenger jeepneys, private vehicles and, the long gestating BRT.
We don’t know if Cebu City residents still value the view of the city skyline or if they prefer the LRT’s elevated railway over constricted road space as what BRT opponents like Presidential Assistant to the Visayas Michael Dino claimed would happen if BRT terminals and lanes would be put up.
They prefer to ignore the fact that feasibility studies have been made attesting to the BRT’s viability in Cebu City’s streets and would rather that the city go back to the drawing board or, specifically, abide by the infrastructure masterplan set up by the Metro Cebu Development Coordinating Board (MCDCB) otherwise called as Mega Cebu.
For a project whose actual construction has not even started, the BRT’s viability had already been judged and deemed unfit for Cebu City while the deterioration and costly maintenance of LRT services and operations had already been seen and had taken its toll on Manila’s commuters and on the country’s taxpayers whose taxes subsidize the cost of running the LRT.
Did the BRT opponents considered this or did they conveniently overlook this undeniable fact as well as the planned BRT project in Manila to augment the costly LRT?
Besides as the mayor had pointed out, the full details of the LRT project had yet to be spelled out and feasibility studies have yet to be done to confirm whether or not it would be cost effective in the long term.
While the LRT project may be completed at no cost to the government, we don’t believe the Chinese-local consortium or its designated proponent would operate the LRT for free. And that’s what Metro Cebu commuters want and have a right to know.
In contrast the details of the BRT project have already been spelled out and yet its fiercest critics believe it wouldn’t work when it had yet to take off.
Regardless, both projects should be allowed to go on, if only to benefit the riding public whose taxes will go to paying both of them.
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