DESPITE some pending components, a top Davao City official is confident that the city government can meet its target for the implementation of the High Priority Bus System (HPBS) in April 2024.
HPBS Manager and Assistant City Administrator for Administration lawyer Tristan Dwight Domingo said in a press conference on Thursday, September 8, that they are still in the works for the contract signing of the project's different components.
These include the civil or infrastructure works, purchasing of 1,000 modern buses, purchasing of the IT system for the traffic management, and also for the project consultation.
"We still have a chance that in April 2024, the buses will be operating, but everything has to fall in place, like the purchasing of the lands," Domingo said.
The official said the required funding allocation for the modernized bus project is now around P76 billion.
The budget also includes funding for the purchasing of the lands for the bus terminals, depots, and stops.
He said land acquisition is one of the challenges they recently encountered.
With this, he said the Department of Transportation, the city's partner agency, might have to resort to filing expropriation cases.
"If we have the funding, we can pay, finish paying the land, we can proceed with the procurement and stick to the April 2024 timeline," Domingo said.
The bidding for the other components of the project includes 1,000 units for the bus fleet, which include at least 300 electric 18-meter buses.
HPBS is the Davao City government's proposed public transport system that aims to improve the city's looming transportation system.
The bus project involves the delivery of a modern bus system for the city, wherein interconnected bus services will be prioritized within the 137-kilometer core network and feeder routes composed of 489-kilometer. (RGL)