Bus system in Metro Cebu
By Marian Z. Codilla, Dale G. Israel
Cebu Daily News
First Posted 10:39:00 09/04/2008
Five mayors of the Metro Cebu area are open to adopting the proposed Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) under one authority.
This sentiment emerged during a meeting attended by mayors of the cities of Cebu, Mandaue and Lapu-Lapu and the towns of Cordova and Consolacion on Monday night.
Mandaue Mayor Jonas Cortes organized the dialog to discuss the proposed Metro Cebu Traffic Authority (MCTA), which would unify the traffic agencies of Metro Cebu cities.
The group, however, ended up discussing the Bus Rapid Transport in Metro Cebu cities after Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña told them he preferred the BRT instead of an MCTA.
Aside from Osmeña and Cortes, those who attended the meeting were Mayors Adelino Sitoy of Cordova, Arturo Radaza of Lapu-Lapu and Avelino Gungob of Consolacion.
Although part of Metro Cebu, Talisay City Mayor Socrates Fernandez was not invited because Cortes said the meeting was to consult the mayors of Cebu's sixth district on the proposed MCTA.
Osmeña was invited as a resource person to speak about House Bill 3955, which seeks to create MCTA.
Cortes said the mayors agreed to adopt the proposed BRT system because it would mean faster and cheaper travel among cities and would spur development in the Metro Cebu area.
But he said they would wait for the result of the feasibility study on the proposal before they would finally ink their approval.
Details about the BRT will be discussed in the consultation today and Friday at the Office of the Mayor conference room. Among those invited were media, government officials, academe and commuters.
Under the BRT system, patterned after the one in Curitiba, Brazil, buses will stop at elevated platforms to pick up passengers.
Unlike the buses plying Cebu streets today, the bus will have its own lane and station, where it will stop following a strict schedule. The setup is similar to the light rail transit system (LRT) in Manila.
In the Curitiba system, the bus system is run by a private firm unlike the one in Bogota which is operated by government-owned, TransMilenio Co.
The Cebu City Council yesterday approved a resolution authorizing Mayor Osmeña to sign the Technical Assistant Agreement with Cities Development Initiative for Asia (CDIA) with the Asia Development Bank (ADB).
Under the agreement, the ADB will finance the feasibility study for the bus system and the project development of the South Road Properties (SRP) through a grant of $499,000. The amount is equivalent to P19,960,000 at an exchange rate of P40 to a dollar.
Aside from ADB, the city will also receive grants from United States Agency for International Development and other international financial institutions.
“We will finesse this so that we (metro Cebu towns and cities) can work together to get the best possible solutions to the (traffic and transportation) problems,” Mayor Osmeña said.
He said that while he initially planned the bus-based transport system for Cebu City alone, he was willing to expand the BRT to other Metro Cebu cities and towns in order to disperse the urban population to other areas.
At present, the population is concentrated in one city, he said.
“I am willing to expand it (BRT) to make it metro wide,” Osmeña said.
With this, the new bus system should be under the management of one body similar to the proposed MCTA.
But Osmeña said that he would oppose HB 3955 because allowing one body to handle the traffic problem of a locality violates local autonomy.
HB 3955 proposed by Rep. Raul Del Mar of Cebu City's north district, seeks to create the MCTA that will unify the existing traffic enforcement agencies of the cities of Cebu, Mandaue, Lapu-Lapu and Talisay and the towns of Cordova, Consolacion, and Minglanilla under one enforcement body.
Osmeña said he was also not willing to give up the Cebu City Traffic Operations Management (Citom).
“I think it would be irresponsible for me to give it up,” he said after the city has spent so much on Citom, which he credited for improving traffic efficiency in the city.
Mayor Cortes of Mandaue City said he decided to hold a meeting with Osmeña after 6th district mayors asked him about the proposed MCTA.
“Actually we were caught flatfooted on the House Bill. They (other sixth district mayors) called me to ask about it, and I told them I had no idea because we were not informed of the proposal of Congressman Del Mar,” said Cortes.
“I am not against it (MCTA) but I just want to know the details of the MCTA. Lisud man nang makalit lang ta ug kaapil unya wa ta kibaw (It is difficult to be made part of something we know nothing about),” he added.
During the meeting, he said Mayor Osmeña told them that the BRT was a “better idea.”
“The other mayors and I agreed that it was a nice idea but nothing is final yet,” he added.
Cortes said the bus-based system still needed a feasibility study and that the other mayors were waiting for matters to be finalized.
Michael Dignos, Lapu-Lapu assistant city attorney, confirmed that Lapu-Lapu was open to the proposed BRT system but had no details yet about the project.
“We are open to forging closer ties with other local government units to promote a concerted approach to quality development for Metro Cebu,” he told .
Mayor Sitoy of Cordova said he was open to the proposal because it would hasten travel within the Metro Cebu cities and towns.
He said he favored collaboration among Metro Cebu mayors on matters like garbage disposal, reclamation projects and other common problems, aside from traffic.
During the Monday meeting, Sitoy showed interest in the Curitiba BRT system because commuters would pay a flat rate regardless of the distance between the points of origin and destination.
Mayor Osmeña said he was not in a hurry to get a decision from the mayors.
“I told them they don't have to make a decision yet. They just have to listen to the experts first.”
Cebu City Planning and Development Coordinator Nigel Paul Villarete said he would invite the 6th district mayors for a separate discussion with the experts of the BRT system.
Osmeña said he would also invite Mayors Socrates Fernandez of Talisay and Eduardo Selma of Minglanilla to the meeting.
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