BCDA wants private sector to build Clark BRT system

THE Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) plans to tap the private sector to build the P5-billion Clark Integrated Transport Hub, a bus rapid transit (BRT) system that will run within Clark all the way to the New Clark City in Tarlac.

BCDA President and CEO Joshua M. Bingcang said the Clark Integrated Transport Hub is set to span across Clark, encompassing both internal circulation routes and connecting the city to the airport.

Spanning approximately 60 kilometers, the system will facilitate “seamless travel” from the airport to the city’s main gates and onward to the Clark Freeport Zone and to the New Clark City.

It will use modern units or Euro 5-compliant buses and will feature “smart components” that will provide passengers with estimated wait times, similar to bus systems abroad.

“It’s a mass transport mode that we want; there will be less pollution, fewer cars—that’s the model. It’s a dedicated bus transport,” Bingcang said on the sidelines of the One Clark Forum organized by the BCDA and the Economic Journalists Association of the Philippines (Ejap).

He noted that the system will be complemented by transport-oriented development (TOD) to make it more attractive to the private sector.

“Most of the transport operators do not earn money from passenger fees, but on real estate. If you look at Tokyo, their stations are like malls. So our model is like TOD as well. we will partner with real estate [players] to make it viable,” Bingcang said.

A feasibility study for the project is now being conducted by the World Bank, he added, noting that the report will be submitted by October.

Initial cost estimates for the project, including the real estate component, is between P3 billion and P5 billion.

Bingcang said the BCDA may start the bidding process for the project as early as the last quarter of 2024 or the first quarter of 2025.