EDITORIAL - Not a very BRT idea

By refusing to endorse the Light Rail Transit system proposed by Rep. Eduardo Gullas, Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña virtually killed what would have been a major step toward addressing a worsening traffic situation in Cebu.

And for what reason? Because Osmeña has a rival proposal — a Bus Rapid Transport system. He also cannot see eye to eye with Gullas politically. Hence, Osmeña is willing to pass up on a major development in favor of personal and political interests.

In fairness, the BRT system being proposed by Osmeña is also good. But it just cannot match the LRT in almost every aspect of operation. The LRT simply can deliver more people faster and farther than the BRT can ever hope to do.

Besides, for all the self-seving hossanahs being heaped by Osmeña on his BRT idea, it just would not work in such a chaotic place like Cebu City, where it is every man for himself in the roadways, and vendors rule every place else.

Can you imagine stringing together three or four buses and make them wind down the city’s narrow congested streets? Sure, there will be a dedicated lane for the BRT — just as there is a No-PUJ lane that has become a big fat joke.

Another limp attempt to shore up the BRT argument is that jeepneys will be phased out and drivers trained to drive the BRT buses. Well, one bus can take the load of five jeepneys, and one string of four buses means 20 jeepney drivers will lose their jobs.

Of the 20 jeepney drivers who lose their jobs, only one can be rehired to drive the lead bus in a string of four buses. And how many strings of four buses does the city intend to have? Thirty? Forty? Fifty?

The BRT is good only in countries where there are fewer other vehicles and absolutely no jeepneys on much wider roads that are being shared by responsible and disciplined drivers. Never in a city like Cebu where all vendors are exempted from jaywalking by Osmeña’s vaunted Citom.

The LRT, on the other hand, being a rail-based system, truly and effectively has its own passageway that cannot be encroached upon by anyone. Concerns about spoiling the landscape do not hold water in a city that has allowed itself to be blanketed by skywalks.