The Department of Transportation has announced on Tuesday, September 3, the modifications in the Php16 billion Cebu Bus Rapid Transit System project whose operation is set to begin in 2021.
From its original 23 kilometers of dedicated BRT lanes, there will only be 13 kilometers of dedicated lanes for the first phase of the project.
According to Transportation Undersecretary Mark De Leon, they are not shortening the route of the entire BRT since those roads without dedicated lanes will still be part of the system and will serve as the “BRT feeder lines” or the areas with mixed traffic segment of BRT and other vehicles.
In fact, he said the feeder lines have been extended further. Now, the entire BRT system including its feeder lines will be covering 39.88 kilometers instead of the original 21.58 kilometer route.
In its DOTr assessment, De Leon said only 13 kilometers in the route are suitable for a BRT system covering the South Road Properties up to IT Park. The narrow roads in the route have been taken out of the dedicated lanes and instead included these in the “Feeder System.”
“That is the reality we have for our roads in Cebu.. Napakasikip,” said De Leon.
A feeder system will still have BRT buses but it will be mixed with the rest of the vehicle traffic, explained De Leon in a press conference with Presidential Assistant for the Visayas Michael Dino.
De Leon said the BRT system needs to have a reliant service and the modifications will ensure that. With narrow roads, the BRT schedules cannot be relied upon if it is stuck in traffic along with other vehicles.
The BRT modifications have also been set accordingly so that it will complement the two other mass transport systems that are also proposed for Cebu.
Although there will be modifications, Undersecretary De Leon said there will be no changes in the target completion dates and the cost of the project. He also said that the project is still on track and he is confident that they will get the BRT running in 2021.
Dino for his part said that the BRT system will be part of the Cebu Integrated Intermodal Transport System which will include a Monorail system from the towns to the Mactan Cebu International Airport.
The CIITS will also include a cable car system from upland villages in Cebu City towards the city proper. Unlike the BRT, both De Leon and Dino said these two systems are still open for “unsolicited proposals” for a public private partnership with the government similar to that of the Bulacan airport project in Luzon.
