Cebu City takes close look at new bus system

AS FOUR congressmen are pushing for the Metro Cebu Traffic Authority (MCTA), the Cebu City government is taking another step closer to having a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system to ease traffic congestion. A seminar workshop about the BRT is set this Thursday and Friday. Mayor Tomas Osmena has given the go-signal for the BRT study, said executive officer Arnel Tancinco of the Cebu City Traffic Operations Management (Citom). The Governor Cuenco Avenue from downtown to Talamban has been chosen as the pilot area. The project is still at the stage of pre-feasibility study. He said the workshop will also tackle what will be done for drivers displaced by the project. City Planning Officer Paul Villarete said, he invited 40 to 60 members of the media for the orientation worshop. He said the BRT system does not use buses similar to those being used today in transporting passengers to the provinces. He said the bus-based system looks something like the light rail transit system (LRT) in Manila but uses bus units. Each bus will have its own lane and station, where passengers pay their fare. The bus will stop only in the station following a strict schedule. If the study is done by November, Villarete said within six months, the city can decide whether to push through with the project. The city's plan to adopt the BRT coincides with the move of four congressmen in Cebu who seek the creation of the MCTA. House Bill 3955 proposed by Cebu city north district Rep. Raul Del Mar creating MCTA would unify the existing traffic enforcement agencies of the cities of Cebu, Mandaue, Lapu-Lapu and Talisay and the towns of Cordova, Consolacion, and Minglanilla under one enforcement body. Villarete said the idea of creating MCTA is good but it has to be studied very well and consultations must be done. Mayor Osmena has also expressed reservations on the MCTA proposal. He said the MCTA will prevent mayors, who would not be elected as chairman of the council from having control over their own individual towns and cities. “It will violate the principle of local autonomy as far as Cebu City is concerned...it is better said than done,” Osmeña said. He is also not amenable in giving-up the Citom for an authority which in this case the MCTA where the city could not have a full control of. /Correspondent Jhunnex Napallacan with a report from Reporter Marian Z. Codilla source: cdn