Busted traffic light and the BRT

What will it take for somebody to lift a finger and have the traffic light at the corner of the road leading to the airport and the main highway of Lapu-Lapu City?

The traffic light for vehicles coming out from the airport road has long been busted, but nothing has been done to repair it.

Usually it takes something major to happen before government takes action, but we are not wishing for that to happen just so the busted traffic light can be repaired.

We wonder why nobody is taking action. Is this somewhat related to politics again?

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We had an interesting meeting last week with some of the people involved in the conduct of the feasibility study for the Cebu Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system.

We met UP Prof. Cresencio ‘Dayo’ Montalbo, Jr. and Arlene Donaire, project coordinator for the World Bank for the Cebu BRT Project. They were accompanied by a good old friend from college and former colleague in the media, Rosario Evangeline ‘Jing-jing’ Mariuño-Fararons.

We told them that we agree to the need for a good mass transport system in order to help decongest the streets of vehicles. Speaking as motorist, the reason why we shun public transport is the fact that they are inconvenient and unpredictable.

Dayo said that the buses that would be used for the BRT would be air conditioned and could accommodate up to 45 passengers. There would also be a schedule for the trips to make them predictable.

The initial route will start from Bulacao, Cebu City going to the Cebu Business Park passing N. Bacalso Ave., left to Osmeña Blvd., right to Escario all the way to the Cebu Business Park.

He said that this was the route that was initially identified because the streets are already wide enough. The BRT stations will be in the innermost lanes (in the middle of the streets) and for every 450 meters, there would be overhead walkways that would give the passengers access to the stations.

Dayo said that there are also studies being done to help the jeepney drivers, who would be affected by the BRT.

We don’t have enough space to add more details about the project, but in future columns, we will be sharing with you some updates.

With the use of buses and not trains, the BRT is also capable of going beyond the line so it would be easy to extend it to areas further south and north.

Dayo said that the BRT is not only about a new mass transport system, it is urban improvement.

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Many readers were happy to report to us that repair work is now being done on several roads of Cebu City.

They hope that this would continue as there are still many areas that badly need attention.

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