Cebu can use cable cars – maker

CEBU, Philippines - Will Cebu be the first in Asia to have a cable car?

“If Cebu will speed up, then yes,” said Norbert Feuerstein, Doppelmayr area manager for Asia Pacific, told The Freeman.

Feuerstein said there are several cable cars all over the world the company has built, including 443 cars in La Paz, Bolivia that traverse three 10-kilometer cable lines.

“In La Paz, Bolivia for example, cable car is the mode of transportation among poor people. Fare is only about P30 (50 percent discount for students, senior citizens and disabled) for a 10-kilometer travel and a travel time of only 30 minutes,” Feuerstein said.

Paul Villarete, chairman of the organizing committee of the 11th International Conference of Eastern Asia Society for Transportation Studies, said discussions are up for a cable car system that will connect Mactan to mainland Cebu.

Feuerstein said the system can be built here and it can help decongest traffic.

In La Paz, the 443 cable cars carry about 162,000 passengers daily from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Villarete said former mayor Tomas Osmeña hatched the idea of a cable car system way back in 2001 but no investor showed interest. Perhaps, he said, Cebuanos were not ready for it at that time.

“Well, I countered that it’s a good idea but in my understanding in my previous 20 years looking at the transportation  in Cebu, the volume and viability might be greater if we are going to link Mactan to the mainland,” Villarete said.

He said it is important to study the same in consultation with residents and officials of Cebu City, Mandaue City, and Lapu-Lapu City.

Feuerstein said the details of the study have yet to be finalized.

Arturo Bartiquin, Doppelmayr consultant in the Philippines, says the cable car system will help decongest traffic as this attracts people with cars.

Rene Santiago, president of Bellweather Advisory, a strategic investment and project development services firm, said the cable car system might work in areas like Mactan Island where roads are narrow and vehicle traffic is getting heavier.

Meanwhile, Villarete said 500 technical papers will be presented in the three-day conference. These are technical studies and research on all aspects of transportation and logistics on land, sea and air transportation.

The papers will be presented by over 700 delegates from 18 countries.

Primitivo Cal, former president of EASTS and founding president of the Transportation Science Society of the Philippines, said this year’s conference will showcase the latest scientific and technological developments in the field of transportation planning and engineering through technical sessions, exhibits, and technical tours.

Villarete added that while the conference is not focused on the Philippines, it will have a big impact on Cebu because of the knowledge shared. —  (FREEMAN)