Callous opposition to the BRT

CAPILLAS

Whatever happens to the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project, one thing is for certain: someone or some people will benefit from either its cancellation or delay.

Let’s not name names in order to avoid unwanted libel suits, but anyone who cares to monitor the developments in this issue knows by now who I may be referring to.

Which is both sad and disappointing since the BRT’s viability had yet to be fully tested in the streets. Yet it had been questioned by those who point to the Light Railway Transit (LRT) as the most ideal solution for Metro Cebu’s mass transport problems.

I wonder if most of those who are leading the charge to cancel the BRT can fully comprehend, much less experienced for themselves how it is to wake up every morning and rush through their breakfast and bathing in order to beat the clock and report to work and attend school on time.

Oh yes, they chorus with confident unbridled conviction, they do feel the inconvenience of being trapped in monster traffic congestion in Metro Cebu, and they share in the suffering like everyone else.

But have they suffered through these traffic jams by riding dilapidated jeepneys, sweating under the heat and enduring the pollution of smoke belchers, not to mention the smell and intrusiveness of vagrants who can board these vehicles at a moment’s notice and beg for alms?

Or have they boarded taxis which offer airconditioned comfort at double the price as their meters are kept busy chugging an additional P2 for every minute of traffic delay to add to their already hefty fare rate?

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The answer is a definite, resounding No but these BRT foes still convinced a lot of people aside from their sycophants to support the LRT which had been proven in the past few decades to have been more expensive and difficult to maintain and operate in Manila.

I firmly believe that trains or LRT and MRT should operate to connect towns and cities to each other and not within the city or town where they compete with buildings, flyovers and towering billboards for the skyline.

The initial specs provided for the proposed LRT project would only connect towns to Metro Cebu. But to make it profitable the proponents will likely push for the inclusion of inter city routes which in turn would land these trains smack within the middle of the city proper.

But by pushing for the cancellation of the BRT, they will set back years of planning, studies and consultations to resolve Metro Cebu’s mass transport problems by a decade or so. A new project would take that much time and more for another round of feasibility studies, technical inspections and data gathering and so on.

Speaking of which, the Regional Development Council (RDC), some of whose leaders are aligned with or are influenced by Presidential Assistant for the Visayas Michael Dino, should be held accountable and even challenged by the public to procure the funding for projects they deem to be suitable for Metro Cebu.

Owing to RDC chairman Kenneth Cobonpue’s adamant opposition to projects proposed by Rep. Raul del Mar of Cebu City’s north district it is all but assumed that he and the rest of the RDC oppose the BRT while being quite welcoming towards the LRT.

Given their privileged status, it would be quite difficult for them to fully appreciate, much less sympathize with the plight of ordinary commuters if they and others lend their support for the cancellation of the BRT which even the National Economic Development Authority (Neda) itself admitted to being a viable short-term solution to Metro Cebu’s traffic congestion.