A CONTRACT to operate a public bus system serving Cebu City will be auctioned off to the private sector late next year in a bid to meet growing transportation demand there, an official said yesterday.
The bus rapid transit system (BRT) -- should be ready for bidding by the fourth quarter of 2011 as the feasibility study will be ready soon, Transportation and Communication Undersecretary Aristotle B. Batuhan told reporters.
"It will feature dedicated lanes and efficient dispatch so buses don’t have to race with each other," Mr. Batuhan said.
This tack is being preferred over the more expensive light rail system "because Filipinos can’t afford subsidizing another [train] in Cebu," Mr. Batuhan added, without elaborating on project cost.
The project joins eight other public-private partnership projects for rail, road and airport ventures which the department plans to auction off by 2011. These are: the $170-million expansion of the Light Rail Transit (LRT) Line 1; the $140-million expansion and privatization of the Metro Rail Transit 3; the $700-million LRT-1 South extension with operating and maintenance (O&M) costing an additional $800 million; the $120-million LRT Line 2 East extension with O&M worth $100 million; privatization of the $28-million Laguindingan airport in Misamis Oriental with O&M at $5 million; a new $120-million airport in Panglao, Bohol; the $97-million rehabilitation of the airport in Puerto Princesa, Palawan; and a new $71-million airport in Daraga, Albay.
The Cebu BRT feasibility study should start by March and be completed in six months, said Transportation and Communication Assistant Secretary George D. Esguerra. -- J. A. D. Hermosa
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