NEDA lauds proposed Cebu monorail project

CEBU, Philippines — The National Economic and Development Authority welcomed the proposal to build a monorail in Cebu.

NEDA regional director Efren Carreon said a monorail is a project Cebu obviously needs considering its worsening traffic problem.

"Ultimately that will be a solution to the traffic in the metro area," he said in an interview.

He said any means, whether through public-private partnership (PPP) or joint venture agreement, on how the project would be done should be welcomed.

"As long as the infrastructure will be built," he said.

Philtram Transportation Consortium Inc has proposed a 16.5-kilometer monorail mass transit in Cebu, seen to be operational by 2021 if everything goes according to plan.

The 16.5-kilometer monorail is being eyed to start at Citta Di Mare at the South Road Properties, then to SM Seaside City, to Mambaling Access Road, to Natalio Bacalso Avenue, to Katipunan area, to P. del Rosario Street, to Zapatera, to Robinsons Galleria, to SM City Cebu, to Mandaue City, to Parkmall, to San Miguel area, to Maguikay, to Pacific Mall.

The monorail’s route is being recommended by Systra Philippines, a French-run company which conducts the project’s feasibility study.

The project will have 16 to 17 stations for the alignment from Cebu City to Mandaue City. The monorail can expand to include a route to the Mactan-Cebu International Airport in the next phases of the project.

Project proponents are optimistic the mass transit will greatly improve the mobility in Cebu’s metropolitan area once it is realized.

A monorail is a railway system in which the track consists of a single rail, typically elevated and with the trains suspended from it. The term is also used to describe the beam of the system, or the vehicles traveling on such a beam or track. Many monorails run on elevated tracks through crowded areas that would otherwise require the construction of expensive underground lines or have the disadvantages of surface lines.

In May, the Cebu City government had signed a memorandum of understanding for the conduct of a business case study for the monorail system here.

Under the memorandum of understanding, the business case study will involve analyses of present or future trip generation/distribution; probable alignments; ridership levels and fares; preliminary design; related cost estimates; project viability assessment; and formulation of implementation plans; and project financing, among others.

A hybrid LRT-Subway project had also been proposed for Cebu.

The project proposal includes an LRT line that runs from the south of Cebu (outside the city), and transitions into a subway line traversing the Cebu City Center.

It then shifts again into an LRT line going north of the City.

Economic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia had found this proposal conceptually better given the narrow streets of Cebu City.

Pernia had said previously that the LRT-Subway proposal will still have to undergo the rigorous and long processes of project proposal and approval.

As standard practice for all big-ticket public projects, proposals are brought to the concerned line agency with a completed Feasibility Study (FS).

Should FS findings show the projects’ economic viability, these proposals will be thoroughly evaluated by the NEDA Investment Coordination Committee (ICC) Technical Board prior to the NEDA ICC Cabinet Committee, then the NEDA Board for final approval.

A railway system has long been clamored by both the commuting public and the business sector, as this is seen as an effective solution to traffic woes.

The Metro Cebu Roadmap by the Japan International Cooperation Agency has cited developing a highway network and public transport as among the projects Cebu should prioritize.

The Metro Cebu Roadmap was initiated in 2013 by Metro Cebu Development and Coordinating Board, JICA, and Yokohama City in Japan to attain the Mega Cebu Vision 2050. (FREEMAN)