Megawide eyes EDSA Busway

MANILA, Philippines — Infrastructure giant Megawide Construction Corp. has announced its intent to operate the EDSA Busway once the government offers the project to the private sector, boasting the construction company’s capability to do both route management and station development.

Megawide hopes to bank on its experience in running the Parañaque Integrated Terminal Exchange (PITX) in its bid to become the private operator of the EDSA Busway.

Speaking to reporters, PITX head of corporate affairs and government relations Jason Salvador said Megawide would vie for the right to operate and maintain the EDSA Busway once it is turned over to the private sector.

“The government has been talking about it, that it will privatize the EDSA Busway operations. If it is serious in that, then maybe we can consider,” Salvador said.

According to Salvador, Megawide can handle both the bus operations and terminal development of the EDSA Busway with its background in putting up and supervising the PITX. The PITX can accommodate up to 200,000 passengers daily and facilitates the deployment of buses to and from Metro Manila and beyond.

Further, Salvador said Megawide plans to submit an unsolicited proposal to build an integrated terminal exchange in Caloocan City to create an EDSA bus loop from Monumento to PITX.

“We are trying to look for one (in the north) because the EDSA carousel stops at PITX. It has no counterpart on the other side. That’s the ideal. We are trying to look for a space. We are trying to develop something there,” Salvador said.

If the PITX counterpart in Monumento materializes, Salvador said Megawide is best positioned to operate the EDSA Busway to control the deployment of buses to the benefit of commuters.

“Ideally, it should be yours (EDSA Busway) because you control the dispatching. Right now, the reason there is a bit of congestion is because you are at the mercy of bus operators. Of course, these bus operators have their own schemes. Some of them may opt not to go to your place to ply a route out of line,” Salvador said.

“You don’t have control over that, but if you operate the busway you can. In turn, passengers will have reliability in terms of schedule and availability of buses,” he said.

Aside from constructing an integrated terminal exchange in Monumento, Megawide aims to start this year the P5 billion development of the second lot of the PITX.

At present, the PITX spans 2.7 hectares housing the transport terminal, commercial spaces and office buildings. It will be expanded by at least 1.8 hectares to allocate another staging area for buses.