THE DEPARTMENT of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) has set the new bid submission deadline for the P4-billion Integrated Transport System South public private partnership project on July 31, 2015, or a year after it was rolled out.
The department reminded potential bidders of the deadline as it released the final draft concession agreement, according to a bid bulletin dated July 1, 2015.
The ITS-South will be located near the Food Terminal Inc. compound in Taguig City, a large part of which is being developed by Ayala Land Inc.
It is the second ITS project rolled out since the ITS-Southwest, located near the Manila Cavite Expressway, which was awarded this year to a consortium led by Megawide Construction Corp. and Henry Sy’s Walter Mart Group.
The ITS system was designed to create intermodal hubs where provincial buses would disembark passengers to transfer to other in-city modes of transport such as MRT3 or LRT1, city buses and UV Express vans.
The move was also aimed at easing traffic congestion within Metro Manila.
There are four groups that the DOTC said were qualified to bid for the ITS-South project, which will connect passengers from the Laguna/ Batangas areas to transport systems, including a planned North South Commuter Rail, city buses and taxis, the Transportation department said.
The groups are Ayala Land, Filinvest Land Inc., Datem Inc. and MWM Terminals, led by Megawide Construction Corp.
The project will also include the main passenger building, arrival and departure bays, public information systems, ticketing and baggage holding facilities and so-called park-ride facilities.
The DOTC also plans to roll out a third ITS project, which will likely be located within the Veterans Memorial Hospital and Golf Course in Quezon City, Transportation secretary Joseph Abaya said.
Apart from the ITS-South project, two more PPP deals are moving forward as the DOTC is expecting potential bidders to submit qualification documents for the Davao Sasa Port modernization and the regional airports development, operation and maintenance projects.
The DOTC said the deadline for the Davao Sasa project had been moved to July 29, 2015 from June 30.
For the provincial airports deal, involving the operations, maintenance and expansion of the Bacolod-Silay, Iloilo, Davao Laguindingan and New Bohol air gateways, the deadline was set on July 27, 2015.
Only companies that pass the qualification phase would be allowed to submit actual bids for the projects.
So far, the projects have drawn interest from both local and international players.