World Bank approves $141M for BRT
Cebu City will be the first in the country to have a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT), a project whose financing was assured by the World Bank (WB) which approved a US$141 million financing package for it.
The loan approval was announced in Washington last Friday.
A statement posted on the World Bank website said the 23-kilometer BRT system will span a corridor from barangay Bulacao to Talamban in Cebu city.
The cost is broken down as loans from the World Bank ($116 million) and the Clean Technology Fund ($25 million) with the Philippine government providing counterpart financing of $87.5 million.
ROUTE
However, the route which was based on a pre-feasibility study may be challenged in later public consultations in Cebu.
Members of the Movement for a Livable Cebu (MLC) wrote Mayor Michael Rama in August, repeating its suggestion to try a “better route” that would “(l) preserve the historic value of Osmeña Boulevard and Fuente Osmeña, (2) serve high population density routes and the average commuter, (3) cause less traffic conflicts, (4) make it more feasible for the investors to operate and, (5) save a great number of trees.”
The bus scheme will have 22 stations including three major passenger interchange terminals in Talamban, Bulacao and Ayala mall, based on a 2011 WB concept paper of the project. However, details may still be adjusted as engineering plans are drawn up.
The MLC’s suggestion would have the bus route avoid Fuente Osmeña and Osmeña Boulevard altogether and pass P. del Rosario to Imus Road and MJ Cuenco, to MC Briones and ML Quezon and Talamban.
They said this would alllow buses to pick up more commuters because it passes schools like Cebu Institute of Technology, Abellana National School, Cebu Normal University, University of San Carlos, University of Cebu, and University of the Visayas as well as the Social Security System (SSS) office.
“We’re assuring stakeholders that everyone will be taken into consideration especially the land owners who will be affected in the road right of way acquisition and the jeepney drivers that we will consult them,”said Rafael Yap, executive director of the Cebu City Traffic Operations Management (Citom) in an interview.
“This is a project we want to succeed and for it to succeed, we need everybody to cooperate.”
Yap was earlier named by Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama as the pointman of the Cebu BRT project and tasked to oversee its implementation.
“We are very happy. This is a a major milestone in terms of project preparation. We’re looking forward to the next step,” Yap said yesterday.
Mayor Rama was quoted in the World Bank announcement as welcoming the project.
“Savings in travel time, reduction in pollution, and lesser number of traffic accidents will make Metro Cebu an even more vibrant and pleasant home for residents, tourists, and business people to live, invest and create more jobs,” said Rama.
IN PHASES
The project will be done in phases, and Cebuanos will likely see the BRT in operation in 2017, after terminals are built, a fleet of new fuel-efficient buses is acquired, and some roads are widenened and improved.
The Department of Transportation and Communication (DOTC) is the implementing agency.
The World Bank said the BRT is expected to carry 330,000 passengers daily, improve mobility of Cebu residents while reducing pollution and increasing travel safety.
Like trains, the BRT runs on its own dedicated lanes, carrying large nubmers of travelers faster, safer and more reliably.
Unlike trains that run on rails, the BRT uses buses, making the system “simpler and cheaper to construct, operate and maintain.”
“The World Bank Group is supporting this project because we believe its impact is going to be far reaching and transformational not only for Cebu but for the country as a whole,” said World Bank Country Director Motoo Konishi in the statement.
DOTC will start the detailed engineering design in January or the second quarter of next year.
The World Bank said the BRT system is projected to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 115,000 metric tons per year by 2020 and 192,000 by 2025.
Transportation Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya was quoted as saying the BRT performs better than “a much costlier surface tram or light rail transit system” and that its affordability, in terms of initial capital, and ongoing operations and maintenance spending, “is particularly important in a rapidly growing growth center like Metro Cebu.
The BRT was pioneered in 1974 in Curitiba, Brazil. The Cebu city government identified this as the right scheme for the city during the term of then mayor Tomas Osmeña, who traveled to Curitiba to observe it.
Over 150 cities operate or are developing BRT systems. These include Latin American cities of Bogota, Sao Paolo and Porto Alegre, and the US cities of Boston, Cleveland, Hartford, Honolulu, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Oakland, and Pittsburg.
Other cities are Ottawa in Canada, Sydney in Australia, Jakarta in Indonesia, and Ahmedabad in India.
Related Stories:
‘Better route’ sought for Cebu BRT
Cebu City to earthball 2,024 trees affected by BRT routes
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