Contrary to allegations, the route for the Bus Rapid Transit will not be shortened and realigned; instead, it will be extended up to Talisay City under the new proposal of the Department of Transportation. During the press conference called by the office of the Presidential Assistant for the Visayas last September 3, 2019 in Mabolo, Cebu City, the BRT routes will furthermore expand its coverage and improve as announced by the DOTr Undersecretary Mark de Leon. With this, the BRT route will now be at 39.88 kilometers instead of the original 23-kilometer route which will start Barangay Bulacao, Cebu City going to N. Bacalso Avenue, South Road Properties, Osmeña Boulevard, Escario Street, and Governor Cuence Avenue before heading to Talamban. De Leon emphasized that the original plan is not feasible knowing how congested N. Bacalso Avenue is.
As reported, Phase 1 of the BRT system will be partially operational before December 2021. This will start at the Cebu South Bus terminal, traversing to Osmeña Boulevard to Capitol Site. Compared to the 20 bus stops, the revised BRT routes will already have 84 bus stops. Part of the first phase of this project would be the feeder services which would run from IT Park to Talamban (5.68km), Talisay to Mambaling (7.55km), and Talisay to SRP (7.36km).
According to Mark de Leon, the Department of Transportation would like to adopt the “Multi-basket solutions” in the implementation of the Intermodal and Integrated Transport Project for Cebu – which includes the BRT, monorail, cable car system, and passageways for bicycles and pedestrians. The 16 billion budget for the BRT system has already been approved by the National Economic and Development Authority. On the other hand, Cebuanos are assured the fare would be comparable and reasonable for the riding public.
OPAV Secretary Michael Dino asked Cebuanos for the support in the implementation of these projects as it will only bring benefits to the people. The Cebu City Council has also requested the DOTr through their technical support consultant to work with the Cebu City Transportation Office on the traffic light system in cooperation with the BRT system – an integral part in the success of the BRT through a well-designed traffic operation system. Councilor Nestor Archival, Sr. on his resolution shared that a supplemental budget of at least P250 million has already been included for the digital traffic system of the city.
BRT is set for construction in 2020 and is expected to be in partial operations in 2021. Are we ready for this?
