Anticipated tourist influx could worsen traffic woes

CEBU, Philippines — Traffic has already been a prevalent problem in Cebu's major cities.

And this may even get worst as more visitors are expected in Cebu following the opening of a new passenger terminal at the Mactan Cebu International Airport.

The hospitality industry in particular urged the government to work on support infrastructure to cushion the expected traffic to be brought by additional tourist arrivals.

"In addition to the exemplary work to boost our tourist arrivals by the different hospitality sector agents, the biggest challenge is now with the road management issues (traffic)," Hotel, Resort and Restaurant Association of Cebu (HRRAC) president Carlo Suarez told The FREEMAN.

He said the challenge is whether Cebu’s major roads can handle the additional traffic given that major cities such as Cebu City, Mandaue City and Lapu-Lapu City have already suffered from traffic gridlocks.

"Can our roads handle high density of traffic given the current state? Let's consider bigger volume and bigger buses moving around to cater to our tourists," Suarez pointed out.

The official stressed that implementation of crucial infrastructure projects must be hastened as traffic continues to discomfort commuters.

"And if there is a plan, how realistic and immediate will the implementation be? We are hoping it will not give Cebu a bad image in the future," Suarez further asserted.

In a statement yesterday, Department of Transportation (DOTr) Secretary Arthur Tugade said the agency will soon implement an Integrated Transportation System (ITS) that will synchronize various transportation solutions to address the worsening traffic congestion in Metro Cebu.

"There is no single solution to address transportation issues. It needs a basket of solutions, that is why we are pursuing the implementation of the Integrated Transportation System in Cebu in the next two years,” said Tugade.

After meeting last March, Tugade and Presidential Assistant for the Visayas Michael Dino met again last June 25 to discuss the components of the ITS, which will include a point-to-point (P2P) bus system similar to MyBus, which is already operational in the city; a monorail in Lapu-Lapu City; the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) in three-lane roads; and the Light Rail Transit (LRT) lines from Carcar to Danao, and the Mandaue to Airport Line.

“The ITS was developed after due consideration of Metro Cebu’s road profile, and the fast-growing need of efficient mass transport systems in bigger, inter-connected cities. Habang papaunlad ang ating mga lungsod ay kailangan din nating tugunan ang pangangailangan para sa mas episyente na pampublikong transportasyon,” Tugade said.

Dino welcomes the DOTr’s efforts in addressing the transport woes in Metro Cebu, noting that the recent opening of the Mactan Cebu International Airport’s Terminal 2 is expected to bring in more tourists to province. "We will soon feel the influx of tourists visiting Metro Cebu, which will greatly affect our mobility as a whole,” he said.

The ITS is the result of Tugade’s meeting last month with representatives of the World Bank. He had inspected the 23-kilometer route of the BRT, along with the World Bank representatives and local officials from the DOTr and other agencies. 

Among the ITS components, Tugade sees the P2P bus system as the fastest to implement. “There’s already an established system which the DOTr sees its potential to complement with other mass transit systems. All we need to do is to add more units,” he said.

The monorail, meanwhile, will become Mactan Island’s transport system, connecting MCIA to different hotels and resorts in the tourist island.

To cater to inter-city passengers, Tugade offered the LRT system as the major component of the ITS. It will traverse from the city of Carcar to Danao City. A Singaporean-Chinese and Filipino consortium has submitted a proposal to construct a US$3-billion LRT system with a subway component in Cebu City, an above ground component from Talisay to Carcar and from Mandaue to Danao, with an airport line from Mandaue to the MCIA complex.

“The LRT will become the main arterial backbone of Cebu’s mass transportation, with other ITS components as feeder lines serving internal peripheries,” Tugade said. He added the construction of the LRT will go beyond the first three ITS components, as it will take more years to build than the rest.