Monorail vs. LRT

Long before a light rail system was actually proposed as part of the solution to Cebu’s worsening traffic problems, many Cebuanos were already inclined to look in that direction. The only reason they could not articulate the idea was because they know Cebu does not have the money for that. But now that the Duterte government has embarked on a massive infrastructure building initiative and has incorporated the LRT dream into it, the Cebuanos are naturally all agog about it.

Little did the Cebuanos expect that their very own mayor Tomas Osmeña would take the lead in trying to discourage local acceptance of the LRT idea.

He has been making negative comments about the LRT, calling it a rich man’s ride, instead of being happy that someone else is trying to solve his problems for him, and at no cost to him and the city.

Instead it is Presidential Assistant for the Visayas Michael Dino who is taking up the cudgels for the project. Of course it should come as no surprise for Dino to defend the LRT project from the snipings of Osmeña.

For one, Dino works for the Duterte government. For another, and on a more personal note, Dino and Osmeña cannot seem to see eye to eye.

But between Dino who thinks positive about proposals that are beneficial to Cebu and its people, and Osmeña who, for reasons only he knows, cannot seem to see anything good in an idea unless he is involved in it, it is clear to see where the Cebuano public would rather side with. Besides, the negative things Osmeña is saying about the LRT are not rooted in facts and are puerile at best. The LRT is a rich man’s ride? What a laugh.

It did not take long, however, for the Cebuanos to see why the proposed LRT does not sit well with Osmeña. Shortly after Osmeña criticized the LRT, he signed a memorandum of understanding with a private firm for the conduct of a study on a possible monorail system in the city. So that’s why he is not keen on the LRT. The sad part about the deal is that Osmeña does not seem to be very forthright about it.

On one hand, he says the study will come at no cost to the city. But in the same breath, he said he is willing to spend up to P1 million to help it along. Oh well, if you cannot understand Osmeña’s deeds, the more you won’t his words. It would have been so tempting to ignore him, if only he was not the mayor of Cebu City, my city.

Anyway, I will not attempt to make a comparison between an LRT and a monorail system because I am no expert on the matter. But neither is Osmeña, as well as so many others among us, ordinary Cebuanos.

So I did a little Googling and came across this article on the lightrailnow.org website written by Dave Dobbs. It is entitled “Monorail vs. Light Rail: A Comparative North American Summary.” And while it was written way back in 2004, I do not think the facts have substantially changed.

You can read it for yourself and while the comparative study had a North American setting, I do not see why the facts presented can become irrelevant in a new setting. It is also amusing to note how the article demolishes Osmeña’s arguments against the LRT as if it was written specifically to rebut him ahead of time. Or you can read another article “Monorail vs. Light Rail” on www.mrl.ucsb.edu and see where the comparisons take you even further.