THE start of the operation of a water bus in some Cebu cities and municipalities should remind us of the old mode of travel in the archipelago before land vehicles became a viable option and their sale became profitable. A firm has set for July 18 the launching here of the water bus, each with a capacity of 70 passengers and with an initial route of from Cebu City to Oslob town.

This can be a game-changer if handled properly and with the help of local government units.

For years, land travel has been hampered by problems resulting from the limitations of the system. Traffic, which is dependent on road networks and land vehicles, has become a mess in some areas in Metro Cebu. Road construction and expansion have not been able to keep up with the increased sale of land vehicles, which is not surprising because roads are not easy to build or widen.

Such problem is not encountered in travel that uses the island’s surrounding seas and its rivers inland. One does not need to build multi-million-peso structures to be able to move people and cargo through waterways. One only needs sea vessels, like the water bus, or pumpboats and bancas to be able to travel. And considering the vastness of our waters, traffic gridlocks won’t be a problem.

It’s just that we have become too dependent on land vehicles for travel, forgetting that before cars and trucks were invented we had the “baroto” to move people and cargo around. Sea travel became synonymous with inter-island travel, thus no conscious effort was done by local government units to use the sea and rivers, or our ancestors’ traditional routes, for travel within an island.

Interestingly, the operation of waterbuses has become viable in some cities and municipalities because of efforts by some local government units to reclaim some areas and build small ports. This has made possible the development of sea and even river routes (where rivers are deep and wide enough).

The operation of water buses is an interesting proposition. If this works, then dependence on land travel would lessen, easing the pressure building up because of our over-dependence on it.