More funding for study on BRT

CEBU - The Bus Railway Transit initiative of the Cebu City government is now gaining momentum after the Department of Transportation and Communications recently announced that the terms of reference for the feasibility study on the project has already been finalized and is expected to be tendered out next month.

City Planning and Development Coordinator Nigel Paul Villarete said that during his phone conversation with mayor-on-leave Tomas Osmeña, the mayor said that as far as the Asian Development Bank-Cities Development Initiative for Asia study is concerned, the study will be proceeding smoothly, adding the consultant team will be mobilized before the end of the month and will have a major discussion meeting on December 9.

Villarete, who is in-charge of the BRT project, said they are hoping that by middle of February next year, the city will have finished Phase 1 and can proceed to Phase 2, which is the pre-feasibility study of the different components and more importantly, the internal transport system in the BRT.

According to him, he has also informed Osmeña of the plan to request for extended funding from ADB-CDIA for a pre-feasibility study of the city-wide BRT system, the one that will seamlessly connect to the internal BRT of the SRP.

As far as World Bank discussions are concerned, Villarete told the mayor that it still remain pending as they are awaiting for the Philippine government’s position on what will be planned and implemented for Cebu City in the future. 

Villarete suggested to the mayor to send a request to the City Council for a resolution addressed to the DOTC stating the position of the city that it prefers to establish a cheaper BRT system rather than the more expensive and heavily subsidized Light Railway Transit or other rail options.  — Mitchelle L. Palaubsanon/WAB (THE FREEMAN)