ADB awards US$1-B loan to Davao City's electric bus program
MANILA, Philippines — The Asian Development Bank approved on Thursday a US$1-billion loan to help Davao City deploy electric bus fleets in a bid to support the Philippines’ efforts to planet-warming reduce greenhouse gases.
The loan will help Davao City procure a modern fleet of about 1,100 buses with operations managed by the private sector under performance-based contracts. The new fleet is expected to reduce 60% of greenhouse gas emissions from public transport in the country’s third most populous city.
The Davao Public Transport Modernization Project will service around 800,000 passengers per day.
“The project is set to transform the quality of Davao City’s public transport and support the city’s rapid economic growth with a low-carbon and climate-resilient bus system,” said Shuji Kimura, senior transport specialist for ADB.
“Not only will this support the Philippines’ climate goals, but it will help to improve the lives of vulnerable populations especially women and the young who use public transport daily,” he added.
The loan will also fund the construction of around 1,000 bus stops with bright lighting and shelters, five bus depots, three bus terminals, and bus driving training for the new system.
The project will upgrade the city’s public transport experience via an intelligent transport system that includes a bus location system, automatic fare collection systems, and Wi-Fi connectivity in buses, terminals, depots.
Technical assistance of $1 million will also be delivered to support the Department of Transportation and the Davao City local government in developing staff capacities to oversee bus operations and overall project implementation.
The Davao Public Transport Modernization Project is the multilateral lending institution’s largest road-based transport project in the Philippines. It is expected to serve as a pilot for overhauling the country’s public road transport system.
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