Integrated transport seen to increase productivity

CEBU, Philippines —  The Cebu business community welcomed World Bank’s commitment to help implement the Integrated Intermodal Transport System (IITS) for Metro Cebu.

Filipino Cebuano Business Club president Rey Calooy expressed hope this development will finally solve Cebu’s “worst” traffic.

“That is good news to the Cebuanos especially today that Cebu is sometimes worst than Manila traffic,” he told The FREEMAN in a phone interview yesterday.

He said a mass transport system will boost business.

“We welcome it. It brings more productivity to our MSMEs (micro, small and medium enterprises),” he said.

Commuters and businesses alike have long been suffering from the worsening traffic congestion in Cebu, taking its toll on productivity and the quality of urban life in Cebu.

In an earlier interview, Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry president Antonio Chiu said the business sector was hoping the proposed mass transport will finally get implemented this year.

He said traffic has been Cebu’s biggest economic problem that if left unresolved will continue to make economic losses which, according to the Japan International Cooperation Agency, could reach P1.1 billion annually.

Earlier, the Office of the Presidential Assistant for Visayas (OPAV) said that World Bank delegates headed by its director Franz Drees-Gross expressed their “willingness to work with the government in solving traffic woes in Cebu.”

They recently met with Secretary Michael Lloyd Dino and Department of Transportation (DOTr) Undersecretary for Road Transport and Infrastructure Mark de Leon.

The World Bank was briefed on the traffic problem in Metro Cebu which needs immediate solution through inter-modal system of transporting commuters.

Under the proposed integrated fare system, a commuter will only use an electronic card to pay for the fare in jeepney, bus, or rail rides.

This is a system that works in major Asian cities such as Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, Japan and Korea.

The DOTr has said the IITS components will include the Light Rail Transit (LRT), Bus Rapid Transit (BRT), P2P (point-to-point) bus system, monorail and intelligence traffic management system. JMD