Megawide targets Cavite BRT partial opening in September

MANILA, Philippines — Infrastructure builder Megawide Construction Corp. plans to partially open its bus rapid transit (BRT) system in Cavite by September, aiming to serve at least 10,000 passengers every day.

Megawide chairman, president and CEO Edgar Saavedra told reporters the Cavite BRT System, which his company will be building, would start operating by as early as September.

Saavedra said the project would cut travel time between Metro Manila and Cavite by half, as buses that will be assigned to the BRT would have to comply with their scheduled trips.

This means buses would have to keep moving whether seats are occupied. Given this, commuters can expect to reach their destinations on time, as buses arrive at and leave stations predictably.

By September, Megawide estimates that the Cavite BRT would serve 10,000 passengers daily. However, Saavedra said ridership should go up every time his company opens a new stop, projecting 50,000 a day in three years.

For two years, Saavedra expects Megawide to operate the BRT at a loss, especially as building it would require P1.87 billion in cost as approved by the provincial government of Cavite.

Megawide is scheduled to begin the construction of the BRT in the second quarter, as it hopes to complete the entire alignment in two years.

Megawide will be working with Maplecrest Group Inc. in the joint venture that was awarded the right to build and operate the first BRT in Cavite.

According to the project sheet, the Cavite BRT seeks to enhance the connectivity among cities and municipalities in Cavite. It also aims to expand transport options in the province to pull business developments near the alignment and stations.

The project is divided into an actual BRT and a point-to-point (P2P) system. The BRT will pass through Kawit, Imus, General Trias, Tanza and Trece Martires, while the P2P will link to Metro Manila through the Parañaque Integrated Terminal Exchange, which is also run by Megawide.

As proposed, the Cavite BRT System will be built in two legs, with the first section spanning 15 kilometers in the BRT alignment and 26.5 kilometers in the P2P segment.

The second section of the BRT will add 20 stations to the alignment, and it will traverse all the way to the New Cavite Provincial Capitol.