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Espinoza: LRT plan more practical than that of BRT
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SubscribeI AM for the setting up of a mass and rapid transit to improve Cebu’s transport system. I do not, however, subscribe to Mayor Tomas Osmeña’s proposal for a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) for Cebu City for three reasons: the city is small, the streets are narrow and PUJs abound there.
The mayor has his reasons in objecting to the proposal of Rep. Eddie Gullas to establish a Light Rail Transit (LRT) in the city and a Metro Rail Transit (MRT) for the towns in southern and northern Cebu.
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Gullas, political adversary of the city mayor, is the main proponent of the LRT-MRT project. Osmeña is suspicious that the apparent rush to solicit approval for the project has something to do with the coming elections.
The mayor fell short of saying, though, that the proponents of the LRT-MRT project are after the money from loans that foreign banks will grant for the project should these be released before the election ban.
Osmeña, a shrewd politician who has been in office for so long, would know better than us journalists about the ins and outs of government projects that involve billions of pesos.
But isn’t he also hurrying up his BRT?
He is now opposing the LRT-MRT project despite his previous endorsement of it mainly because it will clash with his BRT plan and not because the proponents of the LRT-MRT would make money from it.
But how will the BRT concept work in a small area like Cebu City where several hundreds of PUJs ply its narrow streets? The mayor’s technical men may already have some prepared answers for that, although we still have to see them in black and white.
Meanwhile, I received an email from an unidentified sender (he/she must be a member of City Hall’s info brigade) regarding the city’s BRT project.
The images in the photographs sent with the email looked funny, however because they showed huge and linked buses roaming the metropolis of Colombia where the roads are very wide and no PUJs can be found.
The BRT will not only aggravate the traffic situation in the congested and narrow city streets but will also displace PUJ operators and drivers since passengers prefer to ride in bigger buses where they are comfortable rather than in some dilapidated jeepneys.
I agree with Osmeña that the elevated LRT-MRT will cost more than the BRT but at the end of the day the city’s traffic will not end up being chaotic because the LRT-MRT won’t compete for space with PUJs in the city’s streets.
PUJs and even the BRT of Mayor Tomas can complement the operation of the LRT because these PUJs or buses can serve commuters in areas without LRT stations.
I think the mayor will not argue with the fact that travel is faster, more comfortable and safer with the LRT than with buses that compete for space with PUJs and other motor vehicles in the city’s narrow roads.
Since Osmeña won’t endorse the LRT-MRT project allegedly because he does not want to burden the city with amortization for the loan (a problem that he is now experiencing with his South Road Properties) then time will be the judge of the correctness of his move.
Indeed, it would be a big embarrassment for Mayor Tomas if the LRT-MRT is pushed through without the endorsement of Cebu City and will then be proven to be a better mass transit system than his BRT.
Knowing Osmeña, I therefore strongly feel that he would do everything to derail the LRT-MRT project.
Feedback: Your views and reactions
Good Job! Everything about
Good Job! Everything about the LRT and BRT now makes sense. Thanks to you for making it sensible.
The complement between BRT
The complement between BRT and LRT is highly probable, and desirable. The LRT can run from a municipality in the South/North and ends at the Cebu City-Talisay City and Cebu City-Mandaue City boundaries. From there, the BRT system can take over in transporting passengers. To make it 'viable,' the project has to take the BRT and LRT as one integrated system.
For instance, a passenger from Dalaguete can travel direct to Danao with only one ticket. He only needs to hop on the LRT in Dalaguete, hop off at the Cebu-Talisay station, hop on the BRT, hop off at the Cebu-Mandaue station, and hop on to the LRT again that would take him all the way to Danao.
For the infrastructure (where the money is), the LRT proponent can actually modify the project to accommodate the BRT. The elevated railway for the LRT can be constructed from Dalaguete to the Cebu City-Talisay City boundary in the South, and from Danao City to Cebu City-Mandaue City boundary in the North.
From these boundaries, the BRT can take over in transporting passengers within Cebu City. The project proponent needs only to construct the elevated BRT bus lanes for the Cebu City routes instead of an elevated railway. (For a BRT system using elevated bus lanes, one may refer to the BRT system of Xiamen City in China.) In this way, the BRT will address the limitations posed by the narrow roads existing in Cebu City.
The BRT will not compete with the PUJs and private vehicles as the buses would be traversing on elevated bus lanes. More importantly, the BRT can co-exist with the LRT...If only our politicians can co-exist with one another.
Well, the project cost may be higher. People who stand to gain from it would very happy, while those that would be paying for it through their taxes shall wallow in misery.
tomas osmena thinks that he
tomas osmena thinks that he owns cebu city. wala niya hunahunaa nga not all the time siya mayor. mo mention cya sa corruption regarding sa LRT how about his BRT project. ngano nga mamugos man gyod cya nga i apply ni niya for sure he has a secret agenda. normal ni sa pilipinas nga ang mga politician propose projects and get something from contractors under the SOP system
tomas even thinks that metro cebu is very congested already, how much more if dugangan pa gyod niya ug mga huge buses. before he will do that he should first implement road widening.
mao bitaw naay gihimo na
mao bitaw naay gihimo na feasibility study sa brt para makita kung feasible ba jud siya. sige mo ingon na mosamot ka congested ang atong dalan kung pun-an pa jud ug bus na moagi sa gamay natong dalan. basin pa diay ang brt nato adto agi sa dagat. unsaon pagka-congested man sa dalan nato ana ron? maghuwat nalang ta unsay resulta. kay i think all the cebuanos are all for this project. may it be brt or lrt.