Team DOTr, led by Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade, met with Bus Rapid Transit National Project Management Team and Egis Consultancy in Mandaue City in this Feb, 22, 2020 file photo.
CEBU CITY, Philippines — The 20 units of the Cebu Interim Bus Service (CIBuS) will proceed with its operations on Monday, March 16, 2020, without the planned ceremonies.
The Office of the Presidential Assistant for the Visayas (OPAV) announced on Thursday, March 12, that they will forego the launching ceremony for the CIBuS in view of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) threat.
“However the bus service operations will commence as scheduled at 8 a.m. on Monday, 16 March 2020,” the OPAV advisory reads.
Read: DOTr: Construction of MCIITS component ‘mimicking’ BRT to start this March
The CIBuS is a sub-component of the Metro Cebu Integrated Intermodal Transport System (MCIITS) that “mimics” the mechanism of that of the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT), which aims partial operability by 2021.
MCIITS is a program of the Department of Transportation (DOTr) aimed at alleviating the traffic situation in Metro Cebu.
The CIBuS will ply Talisay City to Fuente Osmeña with a base fare of P11 for its first five kilometers and an additional P2.50 for each succeeding kilometer.
Read: Labella: Interim buses will benefit Cebu City residents
According to OPAV, the postponement of the launching event is in compliance with the social distancing measures recommendation of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-MEID) amid the threat of Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).
Officials from the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board in Central Visayas (LTFRB-7), OPAV, and the Cebu City and the Cebu Provincial governments will board the maiden trip of the CIBuS which will start in IL Corso, in South Road Properties and will take the loop to Natalio Bacalso Avenue – Osmeña Boulevard, till it reaches Fuente Osmeña back to Osmeña Blvd., to N. Bacalso and will end in SM Seaside City Cebu.
The maiden trip passengers, however, will not include DOTr Secretary Arthur as he is now under self-quarantine after being exposed to a person who recently tested positive of the coronavirus disease. /rcg