WITH traffic plaguing highly-urbanized cities and towns, the Cebu Port Authority (CPA) sees the potential in the development of new ports and the operation of passenger ferries for water transport.

CPA general manager Angelo Verdan said ports help people from far-flung areas in Cebu in terms of daily mobility.

“Because of the land traffic congestion, every operation of a port is a relief for commuters. These operators, of course, will not go to an area which is already saturated by other players, so they are the ones themselves who look at routes,” Verdan said at the groundbreaking ceremony for Pier 88, a P1-billion passenger and cargo port in Liloan.

He said the appeal to invest in water transportation as an alternative mode of mass transport will create new sea routes and ports.

“They (investors) will be expanding. Eventually, they will be all over the place,” Verdan said.

“Supervision on the rules, regulations, laws of the land and other regulatory functions will be ours. Operations like how they build the port, they will have to submit the design to us for approval, and once we approve it, they build and give us updates on how they are doing,” he added.

Topline Ferries will deploy three passenger ferries from the the pier that will serve commuters from Liloan, Danao City, Compostela and Bogo City. (JOB)