THE High Priority Bus System (HPBS) in Davao City is expected to be fully operational in the year 2023, a high-ranking city official said.
HPBS Manager and Assistant City Administrator for Administration lawyer Tristan Dwight Domingo said in a radio interview on Monday, February 8, 2021, the city government is expecting to deploy around 1,076 buses, including the creation of a waiting shed and the construction of six bus facilities (three of them are terminals, and three depots).
"With the amount of construction, land purchasing, information dissemination campaign and, most especially, atong pahimutang sa sector na maapektuhan niini (to settle all the sector affected by this), all in all, the plan right now, based sa atoang (on our) timeline, 2023 fully operational na," Domingo said in an interview on 87.5 FM Davao City Disaster Radio.
This came after the city officially launched the Carlos P. Garcia (C.P.) Highway bus route of the Interim Bus System (IBS) Project on Thursday, February 4, 2021.
The C.P. Garcia Highway route will start from the Bypass Road turning right to Davao City-Panabo City Road, then turn around to Philippine Ports Authority and vice versa.
Domingo said there are three bus routes under the IBS project: C.P. Garcia Highway, Catalunan Grande and Toril.
The bus fare is P13 for the first five kilometers (km) and P2.20 per km will be added along the way.
He said based on their observation, only a few passengers have availed of the IBS.
Domingo said it is expected since not everyone is aware of the newly augmented bus route.
"Sa sugod, you'd expect na di pa kaayo aware ang mga tao ana, but kadugayan, daghan na manakay ana (the public is not aware but as time goes by many people will patronize it)," he said.
IBS is the first phase of the HPBS, which aims to deliver a modern bus system for the city, wherein interconnected bus services will be prioritized within the 137-km core network and feeder routes composed of 489 km.
The local government sees the modernized bus system as a means to improve the city's looming traffic situation brought about by the increasing volume of both public and private vehicles.
In a previous article, the IBS was supposed to be launched sometime in 2020 but was delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.