By Wena Mae Timtim
Every day, I watch Cebu’s traffic swallow hours of our lives, and I can’t help but wonder — what if the solution isn’t just the Cebu Bus Rapid Transit (CBRT), but also the jeeps we already rely on?”
As a daily commuter, I welcome the CBRT system as a much-needed step toward solving our city’s chronic traffic problem. With a projected cost of P28.78 billion and the capacity to serve up to 160,000 passengers per day once fully operational, it’s a promising project. But I believe we can — and should — make it even better: by allowing both modern and traditional jeepneys to use the BRT lanes.
Why? Because the majority of commuters still depend on jeepneys. Excluding them from the CBRT system leaves most of us stuck in the same gridlocked roads, while private vehicles — carrying far fewer people — continue to take up the most space. Today, more than 60 percent of Cebu’s commuters rely on jeepneys as their primary mode of transportation, yet road infrastructure continues to prioritize cars. If we integrate jeepneys into the BRT lanes, we give mass transport the speed and efficiency it deserves — and we move more people, not just more vehicles.
This isn’t about resisting modernization. It’s about inclusion, practicality and maximizing what we already have. The CBRT’s first phase — 13 kilometers with 17 stations — was set to open in 2025. But the full system won’t be completed until 2027 or later. That means jeepneys will continue to serve the majority of the commuting public in the meantime. Why not bring them into the solution instead of pushing them aside?
Cebu’s traffic woes won’t be fixed by building one shiny new system and ignoring the rest. We need a collaborative, inclusive approach where buses and jeepneys work together and public transport users — not private vehicles — are given priority.
Imagine a Cebu where CBRT buses and jeepneys share dedicated lanes, where commuters no longer dread hours of daily gridlock and where private cars take a back seat. With traffic congestion costing the local economy millions of pesos every day in lost productivity, we can’t afford to rely on a one-size-fits-all solution.
Let’s be bold. Let’s be inclusive. And let’s design a transport system that truly serves the majority.