BRT (Bus Rapid Transit) - An attempt to solve Cebu's traffic congestion

We have discussed from my previous blog the different Traffic Management Systems commonly used by so many countries and talked little about its various histories and the system itself. And now as promised, I'm gonna give you a short background and the promising idea of BRT in Cebu as an attempt to solve the perennial problem of traffic congestion in Cebu City.

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Developmental Stage

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Bus Rapid Transit was first proposed by Mayor Tomas Osmeña in the year 1990. In the year 2008, the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) began formal planning. World Bank and Philippines National Government are also supporting the scheme financially. The former Mayor of Cebu City, Michael Rama, is also supportive of the plans and has formed two steering committees to advise on policies and provide technical expertise. In the year 2012, World Bank consultants Integrated Transport Planning Ltd made and completed a full feasibility study. In the study, all the infrastructures, stations, vehicles, and operational plans were defined as well as the requirements for a citywide Area Traffic Control system and also in the hopes of the improvements to the urban realm. In fact, the said study engaged directly with 5, 000 Cebuanos to attain a very large and transparent public consultation scheme.

In realizing the plans, there has to be a road widening. So right after the feasibility study, areas affected by Road Right of Way were marked with varying measurements ranging from less than a meter to 13 meters. These kinds of issues were pre-determined, taking Cebu's BRT system a little more time before the actual start of the project.

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Route

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BRT's route will cover a total of 11 kilometers from Bulacao (in southern Cebu City ( to Ayala Mall. This part of the route is along Cebu South Road, N. Bacalso Ave., Osmeña Boulevard and N. Escario St. Another 6 kilometers of bus priority at junctions is purposely allocated to allow BRT buses to reach Talamban through Gov. M. Cuenco Ave. From that, Central Business District, Capitol Site, Ayala Mall and Cebu IT Park will be easily reachable. And even future developments to the 300-hectare Cebu South Road Properties (SRP) are also planned as developers seek to inegrate BRT's provision with their developmental plans.

As shown in an artist's perspective above, BRT buses will run along segregated bus lanes that run down the middle of the road. In the middle of the road will be the stations which will be accessed by footbridges or pedestrian crossings.

What's even more interesting is that once this project is completed, it will have a total of 33 stations with 176 buses with buses passing each station in an interval of two to five minutes. And most importantly, it will cater about 330,000 passengers every single day.

In cases of delay and other technical error, a modified jeepney network is expected to operate as feeders and complementary services to the BRT route. And these jeepneys will be given spaces at the BRT Stations for interchange purposes.

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Bus design and branding

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The proposed name for BRT lines in Cebu is TransCebu which was influenced by the Transmilenio in Bogotá, Columbia. It will expectedly be a single deck non-articulated buses which can hold up to 110 passengers and a minimum of 85. With the expected demand of 330, 000 passengers per day, a running speed of 25 km/hr is proposed with a peak frequency of 75 buses per hour on the core route.

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Cost and Benefits

An estimated cost of US$115 million or approximately US$7 million per kilometer will be the capital cost of the infrastructure.

Also, the pre-feasibility study estimated that passengers will save 570 million hours of travelling time per year. Isn't that a great idea? Another thing, if BRT buses were to run on diesel then the route is estimated to save 9,655 tons of PM10 emissions and 1.6 million tonnes of CO2 emissions up to the year 2035.However the DOTC is also considering running the vehicles on LPG, biofuel, hybrid or electricity which will reduce emissions further.

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Criticism and Conclusion

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Flaws are normal and with this promising project it has had its fair share of critics. Cebu has undeniably narrow roads and this project might fail according to many Cebuanos. The cost is too much to be continued and the chances are it'll all be forgotten and taken for granted after some time, argued by many. And for some, maybe the congestion will still not be solved due to on-going road repairs.

But why not just give it a try?

"The risk of a wrong decision is preferable to the terror of indecision." - Maimonides

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Image Sources
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References
http://www.sunstar.com.ph/cebu/local-news/2017/08/11/cebu-brt-project-put-hold-557647
http://projects.worldbank.org/P119343/cebu-bus-rapid-transit-brt-demonstration-project?lang=en
http://www.philstar.com/cebu-news/2017/11/23/1761726/avoid-further-delay-existing-plan-brt-go

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