Intermodal Ayala terminal to integrate Edsa busway, MRT

The One Ayala Terminal, a project by Ayala Land Inc. (ALI), the Department of Transportation (DOTr) and other government agencies, aims to make transportation more convenient for Metro Manila commuters and to serve up to 300,000 passengers per day.

The intermodal terminal, which forms part of the Edsa Busway, was inaugurated last Friday. It started operations on Nov. 19.

It accommodates the south city buses going to Sta. Rosa, Biñan, FTI and Alabang and the point-to-point buses plying the Katipunan, Fairview and Antipolo routes.

“Later on, in succeeding months, we will be opening the UV Express terminal at the basement level of the facility,” Sheila Aguilar, project development manager for Makati at ALI, told reporters during the inauguration.

It is also set to be integrated with the Ayala station of Metro Rail Transit (MRT) Line 3, ALI president and CEO Bobby Dy said.

“The buses use the terminal for free. It’s really for public use on our part,” Aguilar added.

With the opening of this terminal, Dy said the vision was to “have seamless integration with the various transport modes here in Makati.”

DOTr Secretary Jaime Bautista said that the One Ayala Edsa Busway station “reinforces our commitment to provide Filipinos with affordable, safe, comfortable and convenient transport.”

“This busway station clearly depicts a scalable transport infrastructure that will support the mobility and connectivity needs of commuters,” he added.

Free rides

On the sidelines of the event, Bautista reiterated that the Edsa Busway will be giving free rides starting Dec. 1 until the end of the year, noting there were enough public utility vehicles during the holiday rush.

Further extension of the “Libreng Sakay” program was now up to the lawmakers, he said.

As for the privatization efforts for the Edsa Busway, the transport chief said doing so could make its operations more efficient.

A preliminary market sounding activity, which is being done by the Public-Private Partnership Center of the Philippines as part of the approval process for funding application of the feasibility study, was recently conducted for the Edsa Busway system, along with the North Long Haul Inter-Regional Railway project. The Manila Bay-Pasig River-Laguna Lake Ferry System will be studied next.

DOTr Undersecretary for Planning and Project Development Timothy John Batan previously said they were hoping to start the feasibility study for the Edsa Busway before the year ends. INQ