Bus over car
The Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project for Cebu City will push through after all. The project is included in the planned Integrated Inter-Modal Transport System (IITS) for Metro Cebu which also includes a monorail in Lapu-Lapu City, and a light rail transit line from Carcar City to Danao City and Mandaue City to the airport in Mactan. The IITS is apparently the “basket of solutions” that Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade was referring to that is seen to address Metro Cebu’s traffic woes.
The BRT component, however, will be implemented only on roads with at least three lanes, according to the Department of Transportation and the Office of the Presidential Assistant for the Visayas in a press statement.
Cebu City Administrator Nigel Paul Villarete said that within the 23-kilometer BRT route, only the road in Banilad and Talamban and a portion of Escario Street do not have three lanes on either side. With that, the Cebu City government is aiming to have a functional BRT system by 2020.
We have been waiting for over a decade for the realization of the BRT in Cebu City. Market and engineering feasibility studies, public consultations, fund procurement and all other requirements have been done. So what is two more years of waiting, right?
Rather than belaboring the point of whose side prevailed in the issue concerning the controversial project or who should be blamed for its delay, I prefer that we move on supposing that everyone is invested in the future of Cebu and will try to focus on points of unity. (Yes, I’ve always kept myself purposely naïve and optimistic.)
I would have been happy to ditch my car on most days in favor of a BRT ride. But as a resident of Banilad, I would not be able to take the bus going to work if plans push through that BRT will exclude the Ban-Tal corridor.
Did you know that there was study done which found out that workers who give up their cars and get the bus or train to work are happier despite the crowds and disruption? Though British workers were the respondents in that 2014 study by the University of East Anglia, I still find the results of the study applicable to our setting.
That study found that commuting by bus or train which involved more physical activity lowered the feelings of worthlessness, sleepless nights, and unhappiness of a person. Respondents reported feeling better when traveling by public transport compared to driving their own car.
A car has its advantages, of course – from the sense of freedom to move around (until you’re trapped in traffic), to its being a status symbol in our society. During the first few years in my law practice, for example, I somehow realized that clients take comfort and confidence in their lawyer’s ability to defend or pursue their cause from the shine and shimmer of the car their lawyer is driving. No car, less clients. Nice car, more clients. So off to the bank I went.
Going back to the study, it said that buses or trains give people time to relax, read, socialize, and that the associated walk to the bus stop or railway station appears to cheer people up. I could very well trade driving a car on most days – sitting in traffic and contributing to it by taking up a lot of space on the road – for a comfortable and efficient bus or train line.
Pending the market and technical feasibility studies for the monorail and LRT systems, however, I have reserved expectations regarding availability of train lines in the next few years. For a good return of investment, private investors need to be assured that the Metro Cebu market is ready for a rail system. Without such assurance, and unless the government is willing to foot the pricey bill of a possibly premature mass rail transit market, the realization of the LRT could not be sooner than we want to.
Meanwhile, there’s the BRT to look forward to, and more. According to the news yesterday, construction of the 70-kilometer Metro Cebu Expressway project (from Naga to Danao) is expected to begin this year.
The other day, Cebu-Cordova Link Expressway project began its piling works for the third bridge connecting Cebu to Mactan. The bridge is expected to be completed in 2021. Plans for a fourth bridge are also in the works, according to the DPWH.
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