New Manila ferry system seen approved mid-2025

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Transportation (DOTr) expects to deliver the feasibility study for a new and improved ferry system in Mega Manila within the first semester of 2025.

This makes the DOTr confident it will get approval for the Manila Bay-Pasig River-Laguna Lake (MAPALLA) Ferry System soon, inching another transport project closer to realization.

Transportation Undersecretary Timothy John Batan said the agency is speeding up the procedure for the MAPALLA Ferry System to open another public transport as soon as possible.

“We see that the feasibility study for this will be finished by the first half of the year. We expect that in the middle of 2025, the DOTr will obtain approval for the project,” Batan said.

The DOTr is currently working with the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Center in developing the feasibility study. The study will firm up the estimated ridership for the ferry and the final cost of the project.

Earlier estimates from the DOTr showed that as much as P20 billion may be required in building the MAPALLA Ferry System, mainly for the construction of stations and procurement of vessels.

The first leg of the project will span 30 kilometers along the Marikina River and Pasig River, and will include 32 stations in some of the busiest districts of the metro.

Batan said the MAPALLA Ferry System would operate an all-electric fleet of 40 vessels, each of which can carry as many as 150 passengers per trip.

“We are making the most of what is already there because our rivers are already in place like the Laguna Lake and Manila Bay. We just need to develop a high-capacity ferry system,” Batan said.

Based on initial design, the MAPALLA Ferry System will run as public transport, not as a tourist service. The DOTr is looking at the Chao Phraya Rivery Ferry System in Thailand and the New York Ferry System in the US as models for the project.

If the ferry is feasible and, most importantly, profitable, the DOTr plans to bid it out through PPP, tapping a private group to build and operate it.

As a whole, the MAPALLA Ferry System will link the waterways of Metro Manila and Southern Tagalog, offering an alternative transport outside of congested road networks.