DOTC exec says BRT system can be opened to bus operators

CEBU, Philippines - An official of the Department of Transportation and Communication said bus operators here can form a consortium and operate for the Bus Rapid Transit system once the system is in place.

Robert Siy, DOTC’s senior adviser for planning, said bus operators may also use their buses for other routes.

He said the new BRT system, which is expected to be operational by 2018, will increase employment, improve working conditions, provide benefits (health insurance, SSS et al) and offer skills upgrading and more job options among its employees.

“Transformation is required from low quality, high emission public transport to high quality, low emission public transport and the Bus Rapid Transit is part of the solution,” Siy said during the 11th International Conference of Eastern Asia Society for Transportation Studies.

Cebu’s BRT is expected to be operational by 2018 and it will be the first BRT in the country.

Siy said the BRT will feature a dedicated roadway to achieve faster travel. It has a control center to guide and monitor bus operations. Its design of stations, vehicles and fare collection/IT systems is meant to achieve fast boarding and alighting.

Aside from these features, bus operators are compensated on a “fee per kilometer” basis with incentives and penalties linked to performance.

Rene Santiago, president of Bellweather Advisory, said the system might have to occupy but two lanes because Cebu does not have enough road space.

In an interview earlier, Santiago said a BRT system cannot decongest traffic on its own and must complement a railway system – in Cebu’s case, from Talisay City in the south to Consolacion town in the north.

Nigel Paul Villarete, head of the BRT project development, said it would take only about three years to put the BRT system in place but an LRT system would take a longer time to establish.

“We have to look at which project can be built sooner and the BRT which is three years. An MRT- 7 for instance, it was proposed in 2002 until now wa pa sugdi. Besides you need a bigger demand of LRT passengers to make it profitable,” Villarete said.

Villarete is currently the general manager of the Mactan-Cebu International Airport.

Rafael Yap, executive director of Cebu City Transportation Office, said it is unfair to say that the BRT cannot stand alone.

“It’s unfair to say that it will be a failure. Measures have been undertaken. The right of way has been addressed. We have adequate space for road expansions. The issues he raised are being addressed already,” Yap said.

To recall, the BRT project, which will be implemented in three phases, was approved by the National Economic Development Authority Board chaired by President Benigno Aquino III on May 29, 2014.

The BRT, a bus system where segregated lanes are made exclusive for buses, is seen to help ease traffic congestion, provide fast, comfortable and cost-effective mobility, and ease the transportation problem in Cebu City.

The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board recorded over 2,600 jeepney drivers of 1,310 units plying 90 PUJ routes here. At least 22 PUJ routes are reportedly to be restructured once the BRT is in place.

About 240 long buses will be deployed to serve 14 designated stations from Bulacao to Talamban.

The buses will traverse the city’s major thoroughfares, including N. Bacalso Avenue, Osmeña Boulevard, N. Escario Street and Governor Cuenco Avenue. — (FREEMAN)