The BRT system has been approved by the national government through National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), and bidding will take place in the second quarter of 2015 for potential contractors responsible for building the system.
The estimated cost of construction is P10.618-billion.
The Transportation Department said it is ready to bid out the P10.618-billion Cebu bus rapid transit system in the second quarter of 2015, after the mass transit project received the green light from the National Economic and Development Authority last week.
Cebu BRT, a project supported by the World Bank, involves the development of a dedicated bus way in Cebu that will serve over 330,000 passengers daily once it starts operations in 2015.
“We are pleased that we can now proceed with these projects. They will modernize our country’s transportation systems, and boost traveling convenience, safety, and efficiency for the people. Our hard work today will pay off tomorrow, which is why we now have to make sure that they will be bid out, awarded, and implemented at the soonest possible time,” Transportation Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya said over the weekend.
The proposed project in Cebu will be the first BRT system in the Philippines. It will run on a 23-kilometer corridor with 33 stations where 176 high-quality buses will be deployed through dedicated and exclusive bus-ways from Bulacao to Talamban, with a link to Cebu’s South Road Property.
The Transportation Department said a detailed engineering design was currently being prepared for Cebu BRT. It said bidding for construction would start in the second quarter next year.
The second phase involves the supervision of the transit way and the supporting infrastructure during the construction.
The BRT system, which has been successful in other parts of the world, entails a segregated lane for buses, controlled dispatching, priority in stoplight signaling, fixed stops and various technical components. Buses run on fixed schedules, providing riders with greater reliability, efficiency and convenience.
Cebu BRT will be patterned after the BRT systems in Bogota in Colombia, Curitiba in Brazil, Seoul in South Korea and Guangzhou in China.
Another project approved by Neda last week was the P4.107-billion Busuanga airport to support the booming tourism industry in Palawan. The Transportation Department said it would first bid out the detailed engineering and design component of the project in the third quarter, then the construction component in second quarter next year.
The other project was Light Rail Transit Line 2 operations and maintenance, a public-private partnership project for the 10- to 15-year concession to operate and maintain the LRT-2 system. It will include the current 13.8-kilometer line from Recto to Santolan, as well as the 4.19-kilometer extension to Masinag in Rizal.
The project is expected to result in higher performance standards, improving train availability and punctuality. It will also ensure better system preservation covering the tracks, train coaches and other facilities.
Sunstar Daily also has its report.
