#tell_it_to_sunstar
Government eyes P10.2B for BRT projects
The government has allocated P10.2 billion of its P3.767-trillion budget for 2018 to develop the country’s first-ever Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) projects in Metro Manila and Cebu.
The BRT Line 2 along Edsa (Epifanio de los Santos Ave.) is getting P3.09 billion, while Line 1 along Quezon Ave.-España Blvd. is getting another P1.76 billion.
The Cebu BRT project also has a P5.37-billion allotment. I am counting on the Department of Transportation and the Department of Energy to harness new environment-friendly, low-emission buses for the BRT operations.
Our cities deserve a breath of fresh air, so we definitely do not want the usual 100-percent diesel buses running through our BRT lines. (I am author of the proposed “Electric, Hybrid and Alternative Fuel Vehicles Incentives Act.”}
Hybrid buses with battery-powered electric motors and smaller diesel engines, or possibly even buses running on cleaner fuel such as compressed natural gas, should be deployed preferably.
I also expect every BRT bus to be run by the private sector to have free high-speed Internet connectivity, digital security cameras and a public-address system.
The BRT operations are expected to deploy buses that have greater capacity and reliability to efficiently move commuters compared to conventional buses.
The scheme will involve buses running one after the other at a designated average speed using segregated lanes and going through dedicated stations, with a bus arriving at each station every five minutes.
The system design will also include facilities enabling passengers to conveniently get on and off buses and purchase fares with ease.
Once completed, BRT Line 2 is anticipated to move 1.6 million to two million commuters daily, while Line 1 is estimated to serve 300,000 passengers daily.
The Cebu BRT is projected to accommodate 330,000 riders daily.
BRT operations now form part of the public transport systems of more than 200 metropolitan districts around the world.-- Rep. Luis N. Campos Jr., Makati City
Not an ‘isolated case’
We take exception to the statement of Malacañang on the killing of Kian Loyd Delos Santos, a grade 11 student, in an anti-drug operation in Caloocan City.
When they killed a 5-year-old girl last year, Malacañang declared her as collateral damage. Now they want Kian’s death declared as an isolated case. Truly, being heartless is the change that this administration is trying to propagate.
Kian’s murder must serve as a lesson for Duterte to immediately end his war on drugs that has become a war on Filipino people.--