Bus rapid transit system a game-changer, says DOTC

Transportation Secretary Joseph Abaya: Game-changers INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines–The transportation department is planning a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system for Metro Manila, which it calls a “game-changer” in the government’s fight against colorum operators.

The BRT system, which will involve modern buses plying exclusive bus lanes and using specific stations, was earlier approved by the National Economic Development Authority for Cebu City.

The Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) said it would propose a Manila BRT to serve the Quezon Circle-Manila City Hall route.

It said both the Cebu and Manila BRT systems would be made possible with a grant and technical expertise to be provided by the World Bank.

“The DOTC is now studying other possible BRT locations in Metro Manila … to provide commuters with a modern, safe, convenient and efficient mass transit bus system which current transport schemes are unable to offer,” the department said in a statement.

The DOTC said the BRT concept began in Curitiba, Brazil in 1974, but the “BRT” name and the system’s popularity did not come until it was introduced in Bogota, Colombia, in 2000. Currently, there are over 200 BRT systems now operating or being built worldwide.

“BRTs are game-changers. They are as effective as rail systems in terms of moving people around quickly and efficiently, but are much cheaper to build and are faster to develop,” Transportation Secretary Joseph Abaya said in the statement.

“Since they will be granted as concessions, their riders will not be at the mercy of ‘colorum’ vehicles or transport strikes. They will be spared from unnecessary disruptions and unsafe traveling conditions,” he added.

It remained unclear how the department would proceed with the project given a legal challenge raised by the Filipino consortium Philtrak, which had previously proposed BRT projects in Metro Manila and Cebu.

These were turned down because of the current administration’s preference for “open and transparent” bidding instead of the unsolicited proposal route.

The move prompted the filing early this year of a petition for mandamus, which called for a halt to the planned P65-billion extension of the Light Rail Transit Line 1 extension to Cavite, and the P62-billion Metro Rail Transit Line 7, which will extend the MRT 3 to Bulacan province.

Philtrak claimed its “subsidy-free” BRT projects, as an alternative to railways, would save billions of pesos in subsidies allotted to existing mass railways in Metro Manila, which required government support to continue operations.