BRT ‘not enough’ for Metro Cebu traffic

Masaaki Kuwabara, Deputy Director of the City Bureau, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism of Japan, says a local government has to decide what is best suited for its own area.
(CDN PHOTO/LITO TECSON)

With rapid urbanization, how should Metro Cebu deal with traffic congestion and become a “smart” metropolis?

Should jeepneys be replaced by a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT), a railway,  or a subway?

These options for mass transit were discussed by traffic experts yesterday to address the daily traffic woes faced by commuters and motorists in Metro Cebu.

The joint seminar on Urban Transport Systems in Metro Cebu was initiated by the Metro Cebu Development and Coordinating Board (MCDCB) and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism of Japan (MLIT) and held at the Radisson Blu Hotel in Cebu City.

In 2017, the much-awaited Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) funded by a $140 million World Bank loan is set to be operational in Cebu City as a pilot.

But experts yesterday said a BRT is not enough.

A rail-based system like a Light Rail Transit (LRT) that extends farther out to the cities and towns beyond Cebu City, for example to the international airport in Mactan, would have to be integrated in the system.

“A rail-based mass transport system will solve these problems. Something that has a higher capacity than the BRT. Otherwise you will have traffic jams like Metro Manila. You are suffering (traffic) now. It will be more worse in 2020,” said Rene Santiago, a transport planning specialist who has served as consultants to many successful mass transport projects in the Philippines and abroad.

Cebu’s booming population has 50 to 60 percent living in the urban core of Cebu City, Mandaue City, Lapu-Lapu City and Cordova town, he said.

“Many people are acquiring more cars but we are not building more roads. The roads are now hitting their capacity limit,” he said.

Consultants of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) foresee the need of an inter-city rail system to complement the BRT, which covers only 20 km in Cebu City.

With more than 70 km from Danao city in the north to Carcar city in the south, the distance is too long for a BRT.

The recommendation for a rail-based system is cited in JICA’s Roadmap Study for Sustainable Urban Development in Metro Cebu Interim II

Report in August submitted to the MCDCB,which envisions a well-planned Mega Cebu  in 2030.

Accessibility and mobility are the key to develop a smart city, said Assistant Secretary Sherielysse Bonifacio of the Department of Transportation and Communication (DOTC).

The BRT will serve a 23-kilometer route in Cebu City from barangay Bulacao to Talamban, passing by the malls in SM and Ayala.

A contract for the detailed engineering design is set to be awarded to a shortlisted contractor by December, said Bonifacio.

The BRT will carry only 3,000 passengers per hour, per direction.  Since it will pass through existing roads in Cebu city, it will not address the future transport demand of the wider metropolis.

Santiago who is also  president of the Transportation Science Society of the Philippines said the government should start doing a feasibility study on Cebu’s first rail transit line by 2015 since it takes five years for a project to materialize.

Subway

A subway is the most feasible option, according to Cebu City north Dist. Rep. Raul Del Mar.

Del Mar  filed House Bill 5141 for the construction of a Subway Tunnel Transit Network in Cebu City.

A subway is more expensive but  less difficult to execute than expanding a road or creating a skyway since there will be no problem with acquiring  road right of way, said Del Mar.

However, DOTC still has to wait for the Supreme Court to rule on who  is the owner of  underground domain.

Masaaki Kuwabara, Deputy Director of MLIT, said the local government has to decide what is the most suitable  mass transportation mode depending on factors like its size, population, and urban structures.

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