Joseph: Realizing transpo system takes political will

CEBU, Philippines — If only political will exists, Cebu will soon see the implementation of its integrated mass transport system.

Political will, according to Cebu Business Club president Gordon Alan Joseph, is what all it takes for crucial transport projects for Cebu to become a reality, saying these are long overdue.

"Happily these projects all align with the transport study being conducted by Japan International Cooperation Agency, the Department of Transportation and Mega Cebu," Joseph told The FREEMAN, referring to the Integrated Transportation System (ITS) the DOTr has planned for Metro Cebu. ITS includes a bus rapid transit (BRT) system, light rail transit (LRT) and a monorail.

"These are long overdue and I am extremely pleased that there appears to be political will and expertise being applied synergistically," said Joseph, who is chairman of the executive committee of the Metro Cebu Development and Coordinating Board (MCDCB), the group behind the Mega Cebu movement.

He said among the plans in Mega Cebu include the proposed fourth bridge linking mainland Cebu and Mactan Island and a 70-kilometer bypass road.

Earlier, construction works already started for the third bridge that will link Cebu City to Mactan Island via Cordova municipality.

The 8.5-kilometer Cebu-Cordova Link Expressway (CCLEx) is expected to be completed by 2021 Cebu-Cordova Link Expressway Corp (CCLEC), a unit of Metro Pacific Tollways Corp (MPTC).

Public Works and Highways secretary Mark Villar also earlier said a fourth Mactan-Cebu bridge is now on the pipeline, which is yet subject for a feasibility study by the JICA. He was confident the project could be finished before 2022.

Joseph pointed out these "long overdue" projects will improve the serious traffic problem in Cebu.

But he also stressed "the value of infrastructure will be minimized if basic institutional issues are not addressed completely."

These, Joseph cited, include the poor drivers licensing system that produces uneducated drivers, the tolerance of colorum vehicles and the poor enforcement of traffic laws.

Recently, DOTr secretary Arthur Tugade said the agency will soon implement an ITS that will synchronize various transportation solutions to address the worsening traffic congestion in Metro Cebu.

The ITS will include a point-to-point (P2P) bus system similar to MyBus, which is already operational in the city; a monorail in Lapu-Lapu City; the BRT in three-lane roads; and the LRT lines from Carcar to Danao, and the Mandaue to Airport Line.

Among the ITS components, the P2P bus system is seen as the fastest to implement.

The monorail, meanwhile, will become Mactan Island’s transport system, connecting Mactan Cebu International Airport to different hotels and resorts in the tourist island.

To cater to inter-city passengers, the LRT system will become the major component of the ITS. It will traverse from the city of Carcar to Danao City. A Singaporean-Chinese and Filipino consortium has submitted a proposal to construct a US$3-billion LRT system with a subway component in Cebu City, an above ground component from Talisay to Carcar and from Mandaue to Danao, with an airport line from Mandaue to the Mactan Airport.

The metro-wide mass transit program will converge in a common station. Passengers will be ushered to an inter-link terminal where connecting transit systems of all the components (bus-to-LRT, bus-to-BRT, or BRT-to-LRT) are located. (FREEMAN)