Biz Buzz: Relief for commuters

One of the biggest problems facing Metro Manila residents nowadays is the traffic situation. Whether you’re an affluent Makati resident or an employee living in the suburbs, the daily commute has degenerated into two- or three-hour nightmares—sometimes more, if you’re unlucky.

And while the government is trying to figure out solutions to this seemingly impossible problem, one conglomerate already has a solution on the drawing board.

Enter San Miguel Corp. The conglomerate’s president recently shared that he was working on a project that would help decongest major thoroughfares like Edsa not only of cars, but also of commuters.

According to SMC chief Ramon Ang, the conglomerate—which is currently building the Skyway stage 3 elevated roadway that will link Sen. Gil Puyat Ave. in Makati to Balintawak in Quezon City—was looking at plans to set up an electric bus-based mass transit system atop the Skyway.

Instead of electric trains, commuters will use articulated buses (which look like two buses joined in the middle by an accordion) and drawing power from overhead electric lines, just like the light rail system. But they will not ride on rails, and will instead be driven on the road.

And which part of the road will they occupy? The first phase of the Skyway system currently being built will have six lanes, initially, three on each side. While San Miguel waits for the vehicular traffic flow to increase, Ang says the two innermost lanes of the Skyway can be dedicated exclusively to this bus system.

More importantly, these buses will be dispatched at regular intervals from designated stations (MRT-style).

In the end, the Skyway system would do two things, Ang explained. It will decongest Edsa of vehicles … and it will decongest the MRT of commuters, giving many weary travelers an alternative to the dilapidated trains.

Best of all, the electric bus system will be built at no cost to the government. Not bad at all.–Daxim L. Lucas

Textile haven

Property developer DoubleDragon Properties Corp. (DD) is developing a portion of its upcoming Dragon8 Shopping Center in Divisoria, the third floor in particular, into a one-stop-shop for textile shopping at wholesale prices.

DD—partnership between Mang Inasal founder Edgar “Injap” Sia II and Jollibee Foods Corp. founder (and retired CEO) Tony Tan Caktiong—has launched the D8 Textile Center. It is envisioned to offer a large selection of wool fabrics for suits and cotton fabrics for shirts and a complete assortment of textiles and draperies. Everything from pure linen to satin, silk and velvet in all colors, prints and weaves can be found in the new haven for textiles.

Dragon8 Shopping Center, which is expected to open before the Christmas rush, will have a total of six floors and about 3.3 hectares of total floor area. The ground floor will have a supermarket and retail shops while the second floor will have sections for electronics, gadgets, toys, apparel and accessories, gifts and decors as well as services and an amusement center. The fourth to sixth floors will be allocated for 600 parking slots.

In a text message, Sia said the price of retail space for the first and third floors of Dragon 8 was almost the same. Leasehold right per commercial “tiangge” slot can be purchased for P1.4 million to P1.8 million each.–Doris C. Dumlao

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