AS the technical support consultant (TSC) of the Cebu Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project started their work, a Cebu City Government official said there is no possibility of a change of alignment for it.
In a press release, Transportation Assistant Secretary Mark De Leon said the TSC will validate previous proposals for the BRT project if it is still relevant considering the substantial change in the landscape of Metro Cebu.
He said that the TSC may change the alignment established in the original proposal.
“If necessary and after the value engineering of the TSC, the BRT alignment may be changed and may only be implemented in sections that are technically feasible,” de Leon said.
But City Administrator Nigel Paul Villarete said there is no possibility that the alignment of the BRT project will be changed.
“No, I don’t see any possibility of a change in alignment. That is extremely remote as the ridership figures are fairly increasing evenly. DOTr and the TSC are of course aware that any change in alignment in the corridor would involve a change in cost and benefits, which will involve the conduct of another feasibility study, not to mention going back to NEDA-ICC (National Economic and Development Authority-Investment Coordination Committee) for another round of evaluation of approval,” he said.
“Somebody who wishes to change alignments probably hates the project so much they want to stop it again. No, changing the corridor, which all technical experts of the government, the World Bank and French Development Agency have already agreed in the last 10 years, won’t happen,” Villarete added.
At present, the Department of Transportation (DOTr) said they will mobilize the TSC of the Cebu BRT project for its integration to the Metro Cebu Integrated Inter-Modal Transport System (IITS).
By integrating it to IITS, the Cebu BRT project will become one of the components of the entire system considered by the DOTr as basket of solutions to Metro Cebu’s traffic.
Aside from BRT, de Leon said the TSC will incorporate other components of IITS, which include Skytrain, point-to-point bus, light rail transit, and Greenways, which will have bike lanes, sidewalks and cross walks. RVC