E-bus in Cebu City soon?

PhilTram Transportation Consortium Inc. (PTCI) will donate an electric bus (e-bus) to the Cebu City Government, which can be used for the test run of the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT).

PTCI, which is a Filipino, Chinese and Canadian transportation consortium that proposed a monorail system in Metro Cebu, will introduce e-bus in Cebu City after it sealed an engagement with China’s biggest e-bus and electric BRT manufacturer with global distribution in Shanghai last March 15.

According to PTCI, they initially tapped the e-bus manufacturer to provide feeder buses for the planned monorail in Cebu, which will use “the technology developed by Bombardier of Canada and the latest Bombardier Innova 300 couches.”

Philtram Chairman Domingo Peñaloza said the eBus maker and PTCI then agreed to offer Cebu City a demo electric-run BRT, which has a single two-hour charge that can let it run for 200 kilometers.

Philtram, in a press statement, withheld the name of the stateowned e-bus maker until the commitment to donate is formalized and agreed upon by the Cebu City officials.

“We believe the two mass transit systems (BRT and monorail) can embrace together and need not compete for riders. BRT and the monorail can complement each other for the benefit of the commuters. While BRT serves Bulacao Pardo via N. Bacalso Ave. to Ayala to Talamban corridor, the monorail traverses along South Road Properties (SRP) to Mambaling via Fuente Osmeña to the North Reclamation then to Consolacion,” Peñaloza said.

For their monorail project, PTCI plans to submit its unsolicited proposal to the Department of Transportation next month.

They plan to build and operate a 19-kilometer railway from the SRP, uptown Cebu City and to the North Reclamation Area.

The feasibility study for the monorail will be completed this month.

China Railway Engineering Consulting Group Senior Consultant Engineer Lu Zhijun said the detailed engineering and design for the project will be done this year.

Lu said the construction is expected to start in 2019 and will be completed two years after. They are targeting to start its operation in 2021.

“Also included in the plan is the provision of e-jeepneys that PhilTram will offer to current jeepney operators at easy acquisition terms and connect these to the monorail stations using eMini Buses with setting capacity of 20 as alternative to jeepneys,” reads a portion of their press release. /