Cable cars seen to help solve Metro Cebu traffic

CEBU, Philippines — The proponent of the Aerial Roadway Transit (ART) project believes that a cable car system will help alleviate the worsening traffic problem in Cebu.

Fortunato Sanchez Jr., president of Socor Construction Corp., said ART can help in addressing the congestion because it only takes 18 months to construct the project.

“According to Japan International Cooperation Agency Study, Metro Cebu loses P1.1 billion per day due to traffic congestion. The P2.8 million residents of Metro Cebu suffer directly and indirectly the effects of traffic congestion,” he told The FREEMAN.

Constructing an ART project would only require minimal requirement for the right of way acquisition as it only needs ROW for the stations and the footing foundation of the towers, he added.

Sanchez was among those who attended the meeting at Cebu City Hall yesterday morning to discuss how the project can be integrated with the Cebu Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project.

“ART will not compete with BRT, LRT, and monorail. Instead, it will complement and act as feeders. ART has different alignments. ART will complement all these proposed systems,” Sanchez said.

He said he is helping Doppelmayr in his personal capacity. Doppelmayr is an Australian-Swiss firm conducting a pre-feasibility study for an ART in Cebu.

The feasibility study started in November 2018 and is expected to be completed next month.

While the alignment has not been finalized yet, Sanchez said the first phase of ART will likely be an alignment that will connect mainland Cebu to the airport in Mactan Island.

Sanchez said there are five ART lines for subsequent phases in Mandaue and Cebu City.

During the meeting at City Hall, Cebu City Administrator Nigel Paul Villarete, the point person for the implementation of the BRT project, gathered the BRT’s Technical Service Consultants and Sanchez, to discuss the possible integration of the BRT with the ART.

Villarete, an urban planner, said the discussion also involved the proposed ART as possible complementary mode for the Cebu Integrated Intermodal Transport System (CIITS), and the Cebu BRT in particular.

“I think this is very promising and should be looked into. The mayor has already expressed his desire for this the cable car system to serve the mountain barangays up to Tops and even up to Mount Manunggal, if found feasible, since 2005.  Unfortunately, there were very few interested parties in doing the FS, or even financing the project, that this has remained in the wish list,” Villarete said.

He said that if Doppelmayr or any proponent investor will come forward to proposed specific lines, the government should take a look at the idea seriously and determine their feasibilities.

He hoped that issues like air rights, land acquisition, financial internal rate of return, economic internal rate of return will be addressed in the ongoing feasibility study.

“We said there are other factors that should be considered other than what investors want.  From our side, the main concern is services to the people, and since we advocate inclusive mobility, we should prioritize systems which will serve the majority. Four out of 5 Cebuanos don't have cars; the greatest need is hope to work accessibility, and services needed most are those which provide to the underprivileged sectors, especially the poor. I think we should always keep that in mind,” he said.

Without prejudice to the ongoing feasibility study, Villarete said an ART line going to the city’s mountain barangays would be good to study because there are “inherent” needs.

There are also lines that will connect to the BRT routes, for example, a line from Guadalupe to the BRT-V. Rama station and one line from BRT-Capitol station to go to the Banawa-Katipunan-Tisa ART and connect to the BRT – F. Llamas station, among others.

The BRT’s first phase is from South Road Properties to Ayala Cebu to I.T. Park while the succeeding phases will include barangays Mambaling, Bulacao, and Ban-Tal corridor.

Villarete said ART proponents and BRT proponents agreed to discuss on a regular basis to discuss and consult the city further on the need and the possible routes. JMO (FREEMAN)