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Group offers $3B LRT in Cebu By Myla Iglesias July 04, 2018 A Singaporean-Chinese and Filipino consortium has submitted a proposal to construct a $3-billion Light Rail Transit (LRT) system in Metro Cebu as the major component of the Integrated Transportation System (ITS) that will help address the worsening traffic congestion, the Department of Transportation (DOTr) said. Arthur Tugade, transportation secretary, said he offered the LRT system as the major component of the ITS in Cebu to cater to inter-city passengers. “The LRT will become the main arterial backbone of Cebu’s mass transportation, with other ITS components as feeder lines serving internal peripheries,” Tugade said. He added the construction of the LRT will go beyond the first three ITS components as it will take longer to build than the rest. At present, DOTr said the unsolicited proposal is still under evaluation by the government. The proposal has a subway component in Cebu City, an above ground component from Talisay to Carcar and from Mandaue to Danao, with an airport line from Mandaue to the Mactan Cebu International Airport (MCIA) complex. Other ITS components include a point-to-point (P2P) bus system similar tothe MyBusthat already operates in the city, a monorail in Lapu-Lapu City and the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) in three-lane roads. DOTrsaid it will soon implement an ITS that will synchronize various transportation solutions to address the worsening traffic congestion in Metro Cebu. “There is no single solution to address transportation issues. It needs a basket of solutions, that is why we are pursuing the implementation of the Integrated Transportation System in Cebu in the next two years,” said Tugade. DOTr said the ITS was developed after due consideration of Metro Cebu’s road profile, and the growing need for efficient mass transport systems in bigger, inter-connected cities. Among the ITS components, Tugade sees the P2P bus system as the fastest to implement. “There’s already an established system which the DOTr sees its potential to complement with other mass transit systems. All we need to do is to add more units,” he said. The Monorail, meanwhile, will become Mactan Island’s transport system, connecting MCIA to different hotels and resorts in the tourist island. Michael Dino, presidential assistant for the Visayas, clarified that the BRT will only be allowed on three-lane roads. “It was a common agreement that BRT on narrow roads will fail. DOTr has identified the roads with three lanes in both directions where we can allow it to operate, as it will not be effective if we allow them to operate on already congested areas,” Dino said, adding the BRT on narrow roads “may cause disaster” to other ITS components and existing transport systems. The DOTr has the P10.6-billion Cebu BRT project in the pipeline. It spans a 23-kilometer BRT corridor inBulacao-Ayala-Talamban. The metro-wide mass transit program will converge in a common station. Passengers will be ushered to an inter-link terminal where connecting transit systems of all the components (bus-to-LRT, bus-to-BRT or BRT-to-LRT) are located. DOTr is studying two areas where the common station will be put up – one in a coastal district and the other in a city center. Tugade targets to achieve partial operability of the ITS program in the next one and a half to two years. “Once implemented, Cebu will become beautiful and more livable. The ITS will encourage interoperability and interconnectivity of land, air, and sea transportation,” he said. Aside from the ITS, the DOTr is also considering the construction of flared intersections, road widening and intelligence signaling systems as “other basket of solutions” to traffic congestion in Metro Cebu. “This is a one-in-a-million opportunity for the Cebuanos to embrace. We are thankful that DOTr Sec. Tugade burns his midnight candle in tracing out what Cebu really needs for its mass transportation and traffic problem, and I fully support him,” Dino said, adding the DOTr and his office will work closely so the ITS will happen in the next two years. |
