Villarete: BRT study to start next month

CEBU - The steering committee that will study the implementation of the Bus Rail Transit in Metro Cebu will start by next month.

City planning and development officer Paul Villarete said that the study is expected to be finished in ten months. The study cost is around P16 million and is funded by the Department of Transportation and Communication.

One of the aims of the study is to determine the cost of the BRT system.

Mandaue City Mayor Jonas Cortes said that he has no objections to this plan since it will help ease traffic in Metro Cebu. He said he and other Metro mayors have had initial talks on this project and so far they are all agreeable to it.

Villarete said that that the city government of Cebu is fully supporting this project.

He added that the city is cooperating with the national government and other development organizations in developing a BRT system for the city.

The city already conducted an orientation seminar on this matter aimed to inform the participants and stakeholders of the proposed BRT system of what the new system really is, its components and how it may help the future urban transport needs of the city.

The putting up of a BRT system is envisioned to be a more feasible mode of public transportation as the capital costs are much cheaper as compared to a Metro Rail System.

A BRT system works like the train system but uses buses instead of a train and passengers pay at the designated bus stops. — Mitchelle L. Palaubsanon/BRP (THE FREEMAN)