Garcia wants integrated SRP bus terminal

CEBU, Philippines — Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia is in agreement with Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama that the Cebu South Bus Terminal (CSBT) be moved to the South Road Properties (SRP), or somewhere else, due to the worsening traffic situation along N. Bacalso Avenue.

She suggested, though, that both the CSBT and the Cebu North Bus Terminal (CNBT) be moved to the SRP, which is located at the "center," for an integrated terminal.

Cebu Province is the owner and operator of both CSBT and CNBT, which are the jump off points of travelers going to and from the northern and southern parts of Cebu, respectively.

The governor said that it is best to have an integrated bus terminal, where not only northbound and southbound buses will converge but feeder jeepneys, taxis, and "everything else" also.

Earlier, Rama expressed his desire for CSBT, currently located along N. Bacalso Ave. in Cebu City, to be transferred to give way to the Cebu Bus Rapid Transit (CBRT).

“(Bus) Terminal sa Province has to give way to BRT and has to be at SRP, or depende nas governor kung asa niya ibutang ang terminal. Aron inig kanaug sa buses, sugaton nalang sa BRT,” he had said.

Construction for the CBRT is ongoing at the CSBT area where the traffic situation is severe.

The governor said the current CSBT location is a prime property that the Capitol would develop in partnership with the private sector.

“That is also a very ideal, commercially viable property. Of course I will never dispose of it, but we will develop it, again open to private sector partnership, in order to realize more revenues for the Province of Cebu,” she said, as by Sugbo News, the official Facebook news page of the Cebu Provincial Government.

And to realize her plan for an integrated bus terminal, Garcia said Cebu Province is likewise open to partnerships with the private sector.

She said the ideal location for the integrated SRP terminal is the area contiguous to the sea so that a port may also be built to accommodate as well water taxis and ferries. — /RHM (FREEMAN)