WB experts see need for bus system here

While no definite terms were laid down, the transportation experts from the World Bank who visited Cebu yesterday reportedly saw the need for a Bus Rapid Transport System here and said they will find ways for the bank to assist the city to implement the project.

“They saw the need...they saw the issues concerned...but there’s a need for further studies, to find a suitable arrangement where they can give assistance,” said city planning officer Nigel Paul Villarete.

A  BRT System is a broad term given to a variety of transportation systems that is of a higher quality than an ordinary bus line due to improvements to infrastructure, vehicles and scheduling.

The experts —World Bank’s chief of infrastructure here in the Philippines and the bank’s public transport expert from Washington D.C.- went to look at the South Road Properties and the area where the Banilad flyover will be built.

Villarete said the two believe that the system can be implemented here and that discussions on how to go about the project will resume in three weeks.  After the “exploratory” visit, the two flew back to Manila yesterday afternoon.

“It went well. We’re glad it went well...we’ll go back to discussion in three weeks time,” Villarete said.

Mayor Tomas Osmeña is looking into the possibility of implementing the BRT System in the Banilad flyover and the SRP where he wants to put up an internal transport system for investors of the SRP.

Should the city decide to augment the current mode of public transportation, Cebu City Planning and Development Officer Nigel Paul Villarete had said that the BRT System will be a more feasible mode because its capital costs are lower compared to a metro rail system.

Citing a feasibility study to determine the viability of establishing a BRT system in Manila, Villarete earlier said at least $500,000 to $15 million is required per kilometer.  The cost includes the purchase of buses and the establishment of needed infrastructure.

On the other hand, a metro rail system will cost $25 million to $60 million per kilometer, while a light rail transit system costs $15 million to $40 million per kilometer.

The BRT operations should be a private sector initiative and the government may get involved in the regulation and control and in fixing and collecting fares, Villarete said, citing the Curatiba BRT system in Brazil.

Should the system be implemented in the Banilad flyover area, Villarete said there would be a need to widen the Gov. Mariano Cuenco Avenue because the system alone will need two inner lanes, the other four will be for private vehicles.  — Joeberth M. Ocao/BRP