Options for the Cebu BRT

After decades of preparation, the Cebu Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) is already in the final stages of being started. By “start” I mean the actual beginning of construction as can be seen along Osmeña Boulevard now. Sadly, it took more than two decades for what other countries and cities in the world took only a year or two of project preparation, from conceptualization to construction. And even until now, a sizable chunk of the population still doesn’t fully understand how it works, and some still try to oppose its construction.

Actually, it's not that strange. As a concept, it had some difficulties in being fully understood, especially in comparison to ordinary bus systems which have been with us for decades. People see rail systems and bus services differently. So, when BRTs were first introduced in Curitiba in Brazil and Bogota in Colombia decades ago, there were few who followed suit outside of the cities and countries in South America. Even today, the degree of its acceptability is still far less than its rail cousins. Even if in theory, they’re exactly the same, with the only difference being the material of their wheels --one is made of steel, the other, rubber.

But when fully understood, the system gets accepted and even supported. Worldwide, the World Bank and all other international funding institutions fully support and build BRT projects. The NEDA Board, the highest decision-maker for economic projects in our country approved both the Cebu and Manila BRTs. But we can’t help if there are still naysayers, even among some decision-makers of the country. Even some senators and congressmen still have raised, or furrowed, eyebrows on the BRT being built in EDSA.

The current issue in Cebu is basically on alignment, one which should not be difficult to resolve. The Cebu BRT was originally submitted in 1998 with a proposed alignment from Bulacao to the CBD. CBD means the “central business district” which means the “center” of Cebu City … basically anywhere along Osmeña Boulevard from downtown to uptown. Later on, when it was discussed in NEDA, they added Talamban to the CBD section. After approval, they decided to build the CBD section first, from the South Bus Terminal to IT Park. And when they finally started, they chose the Osmeña Boulevard section. I don’t agree with this but that’s where we are now.

We need to think back to the original concept of CBD. It is basically around Colon to Capitol. The BRT can run from Bulacao and from Talamban to anywhere along that stretch. It doesn’t have to reach the Capitol if there are problems with that. What is important is that it reaches the CBD and to achieve that, it can connect either to the old CBD in Colon or to Ayala Center. There are very easy options for the latter, which just need to be drawn out. There’s actually only a small percentage of ridership that goes to the Capitol, so if there are problems with that, project implementors can easily adjust. The Fuente Osmeña and downtown areas are the more important ridership centers, with quite a number of possible routes to Ayala Center.