19 bus stops identified from SRP to Fuente
This road section along Fuente Osmeña Rotonda is one of Cebu City’s busiest during rush hours, as shown in this photo taken on July 18, 2018, and has been proposed to be a key hub for the now stalled Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project.
CEBU CITY, Philippines — The Cebu City government and the Department of Transportation (DOtr) have identified 19 bus stops along the route of the interim bus service (IBS), which will be implemented in Cebu City on March 15, 2020.
The IBS will serve as a transition transport system in preparation of the full implementation of the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) System.
Read more: 15 feeder routes in Cebu City eyed for BRT
On Friday morning, March 6, 2020, the city government and the DOTr met to discuss the IBS in detail with the city councilors and Mayor Edgardo Labella.
Bus stops
The southbound buses will have a stops at Fuente Circle; two stops at the Osmeña Boulevard including Eastwest Bank and Abellana National High School; four stops at the Natalio Bacalso Highway including Phoenix Gas Station at corner J. Alcantara Street, corner Tres de Abril Street, Salazar Institute of Technology, and Cebu Institute of Technology; a single stop at the Phoenix Gas Station at M. Vestil Street in Barangay Mambaling; finally ending at the SM Seaside at the South Road Properties (SRP).
The northbound buses will have stops at three stops at SRP including Citi di Mare, Il Corso, and SM Seaside; four stops at the N. Bacalso Highway including Nature Springs, Asia Glass Palace Corner, and the Cebu South Bus Terminal; two stops at the Osmeña Boulevard including Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas and Bradford Church; finally ending at the Fuente Circle.
Bus fare
The buses will run for 24 hours and will have a basic fare of P11 for the first five kilometers with an increase of P2.20 per additional kilometer of distance travel.
“This will make every Cebuano happy,” said Councilor Antonio Cuenco, the council’s chairperson for the committee on transportation.
Cuenco said he was satisfied with the meeting as the actions would soon start with the putting up of bus stops, the only areas where the buses would be allowed to load or unload.
He encouraged the public to learn the “temporary” bus stops and adhere to the traffic rules that these stops would be the only areas to load and unload.
City Legal Officer Rey Gealon, Cebu City Transportation Office (CCTO) executive director, said the temporary bus stops would help the public transition to a full BRT system.
There will be 20 buses with a 60-to-80-person capacity plying through the IBS route.
Gealon said that the negative effect of the IBS would be the expected congestion at the start of its implementation as they would not be expecting people to immediately use the system.
The buses would also compete with the jeepneys and private cars, but as the BRT would begin to settle, this would be addressed as jeepneys would` soon be phased out from the BRT route.
He said he hoped the public would take the time to adjust to the new system as this would be beneficial for the long run. /dbs
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