BRT’s viability
Aside from its long-delayed implementation, the BRT project has become the ‘boxing arena’ of two personalities
And the debate on the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) continues as the issue is being referred to a Technical Support Consultant (TSC) for further study.
Aside from its long-delayed implementation, the BRT project has become the boxing arena of two personalities: the “former political has-been,” who has a mandate to lead Cebu City, and Presidential Assistant for the Visayas Michael Dino, who came into the picture after he was appointed to his “powerful” position by the powers-that-be.
The “former political has-been” blames Dino for the delay because of his intervention. Dino sought to cancel the P16-billion project saying it is a waste of government funds as the project is no longer viable in the city. I say the “former political has-been” should stop accusing Dino for the delay because the implementation of the project has been “super delayed” even before Dino came. The referral by the National Economic and Development Authority-Investment Coordination Committee (Neda-ICC) should have been done a long time ago.
Dino’s claim that BRT is a disaster bound to happen is more imagined than real. His forecast is in keeping with his political and personal agenda. He is pushing for the P155-billion Light Rail Transit (LRT) under Public Private Partnership (PPP) with no cost to the government. There are many experts who predict that the BRT will fail. If that happens, we will be stuck paying the huge loan that the government applied for.
Will it be successful or will it fail? We don’t know yet. This is a big gamble. Here’s some data on the BRT.
The BRT is a bus-based public transport system designed to improve the capacity and reliability of a conventional bus system. Typically, a BRT system includes roadway that is dedicated to buses and gives priority to buses at intersections. Its design has features to reduce delays caused by passengers boarding or leaving buses, or purchasing fares. The BRT aims to combine the capacity and speed of a metro rail with the flexibility, lower cost and simplicity of a bus system.
The first BRT system was the Integrated Transport System in Curitiba in Brazil that started operation in in 1974. This inspired many similar systems around Brazil and the world such as the TransMilenio in Bogota, Colombia that opened in 2000.
As of March 2018, a total of 166 cities in six continents have implemented BRT systems, accounting for 4,906 kilometers of BRT lanes and about 32.2 million passengers everyday, of which about 19.6 million passengers ride daily in Latin America, which has the most cities with BRT systems with 54 (led by Brazil with 21 cities).
The Latin American countries with the most daily ridership are Brazil (10.7 million), Colombia (3.06 million) and Mexico (2.5 million).
In other regions, China (4.3 million) and Iran (2.1 million) also stand out. Currently, TransJakarta is considered as the largest BRT network in the world with approximately 230.9 kilometers of corridors connecting the Indonesian capital city.
But if we can provide dedicated lanes for this, like in the cities mentioned above, will it still be a failure? Try to think of it.