THE Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI) said that road-widening should be one of the components if the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project is pursued.
In a statement sent yesterday, CCCI cited Cebu’s need for a mass transport system, saying traffic congestion has affected “all sectors of society.” It reiterated its stand that Cebu needs an intermodal mass transport system to address the needs of a growing community.
“It took more than 10 years for the BRT to go through its approval process, not to mention countless time and resources spent in the process,” the business organization said.
With economists computing a 53 percent economic internal rate of return, the chamber said, the BRT’s benefits are clear and the project is “ready to take off.”
But cancelling the BRT will pave the way for fast-tracking a Light Rail Transit (LRT), which would be the more effective form of mass transport in Cebu, said Presidential Adviser for the Visayas Michael Lloyd Dino.
Feasibility
Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña disagreed.
“I find it strange that they will change the BRT for a ghost project. Why is it a ghost project? Because it does not exist. They cannot even say where it will be. But they know the winning bidder already. They, themselves, admitted they don’t know the ridership. They have no feasibility study,” he said.
Osmeña has been pushing for a BRT since 1996. In September 2014, the World Bank committed two loan packages worth a combined $141 million for the Cebu BRT.
The Philippine Government’s counterpart will be $87.5 million, for a total project cost of $228.5 million.
Last April 11, however, Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade and Dino wrote the Department of Finance and recommended that cancellation of the Cebu BRT.
Not on the same roads
Their reasons included the mismatch between local conditions—narrow roads, an increase of more than 119,000 vehicles since the project’s feasibility study was approved—and what the BRT needs in order to work.
Tugade and Dino also cited delays in the project that have led to “unnecessary administrative costs” of P17.4 million in commitment fees and service fees.
If the BRT pushes through without any roads along it being widened, its buses would be “forced to operate” on the same lanes as other vehicles, which would make the system inefficient, the two also said in their letter to Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez.
The National Economic and Development Authority’s Investment Coordination Committee has yet to decide on the recommendation.
It previously approved the Cebu BRT, which allowed the transportation department in 2015 to commission the detailed engineering studies.
In their statement, the CCCI acknowledged that the BRT is a short-term solution that is ready for implementation and that a Light Rail Transit (LRT) will benefit a bigger number of commuters over a wider area and that this should also be actively pursued and implemented “within the shortest possible time” to support Cebu’s growing economy.
“LRT and BRT will complement each other,” the chamber said.
“Cebu is in a crisis situation. Cebu Chamber would like to enjoin all sectors of society to set aside political differences and work together to solve the traffic problems in order to achieve our common desire to have a Cebu where quality family life and business shall flourish,” the statement said.
But in his news conference, Osmeña said he is not convinced that the government will save billions if an LRT project proposed by a consortium of local and Chinese companies proceeds, instead of the BRT.
“We will change that (the BRT) for something that does not exist? Because Dino says so? How much commission are they making out of this? That’s the question I’d like to ask because there is already a winning bidder,” he said.
If the BRT project will not push through, Osmeña said, the City will have no mode of mass transportation for the next 10 years.
Other projects
Interviewed separately, Dino said that the cancellation of the Cebu BRT would allow the fast-tracking of an LRT project from Carcar City to Danao.
He said he is confident that the NEDA-ICC and President Rodrigo Duterte will support his and Tugade’s recommendation to cancel the BRT.
Glenn Soco, chairman of the Infrastructure Development Committee of the Regional Development Council (RDC), said that the recommendation to cancel the BRT from the Department of Transportation carries a lot of weight, as it is the implementing agency.
“Should the BRT be fully scrapped, Cebu City will be fine considering that the current ridership will be serviced by the current PUVs (public utility vehicles),” Soco said.
Soco also said that the RDC has endorsed several projects for Cebu like the Metro Cebu Expressway north and south by-pass roads and intelligent traffic systems that will ease traffic congestion. (MEA, EOB, RVC)