BRT seen to start partial operation by yearend

CEBU, Philippines —  The long overdue Cebu Bus Rapid Transit (CBRT) System will start partial operation by the end of this year and is expected to be in full-swing in 2023, says Assistant Secretary Anthony Gerard “Jonji” Gonzales of the Office of the Presidential Assistant for the Visayas (OPAV) in his report to the Cabinet Report program.

The Cabinet Report program of the Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) aired over government television network is aimed to promote government projects.

Gonzales said the Department of Transportation (DOTr) remains on target despite the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. He said the CBRT Package 1 was already published and is now up for public bidding. It is scheduled for completion by December this year.

The 2.38-kilometer CBRT Package 1 comprises of four bus stations from the Cebu South Bus Terminal up to the Capitol area passing through Osmen~a Boulevard in Cebu City.

According to Gonzales, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) is in charge of the national road expansion while local government unit will be responsible of the local roads.

 Packages 2 and 3 of the project involve the establishment of trunk service from South Road Properties (SRP) to CSBT via Natalio Bacalso Avenue and from Capitol to IT Park with terminals at SRP and IT Park. These three packages comprise of the CBRT Phase 1.

Parcillary mapping for the detailed engineering design of Package 2, which will cover 10.8 kilometers, is now being finalized.

Gonzales said there were delays in consultancy and in the parcillary mapping because the ongoing pandemic. He said the CBRT will be fielding 250 buses with at least 21 stations once completed. It is expected to serve at least 60,000 commuters a day. Conversion of feeder to trunk service will come next as Phase 2 of CBRT project.

The BRT system will operate along both a dedicated transit way and in mixed traffic segment. The project corridor is about 23 kilometers long traversing from Bulacao to Talamban via SRP.

The CBRT project is a component of the Metro Cebu Integrated Inter-modal Transportation System or (MCIITS) that seeks to integrate a monorail system, a cable car system and BRT to provide efficient public land transportation.

The MCIITS is seen to answer the problem on traffic congestion in the Metro Cebu.

Aside from the CBRT, other components of the MCIITS are monorail and ferry boat services from Carcar City to Danao City and a cable car system from Lahug area to Busay in Cebu City. — FPL (FREEMAN)