Metro Manila bus rapid transit project canceled   

Aside from the prospect of fewer jeepney and bus trips due to soaring fuel prices, commuters stand to lose another convenience that was never given a chance to materialize. The Metro Manila bus rapid transit (BRT) system will no longer push through. 

A BRT system like this one in Jakarta would have been a convenient option for Metro Manila commuters 

According to an Inquirer report, the Philippine government and the World Bank have agreed to cancel the $64.6 million (Php 3.55 billion) loan previously approved for the BRT Line 1 project in 2017. The loan expires November this year and has so far only disbursed $100,000 (Php 5.5 million). 

“Despite the renewed commitment from government counterparts, project implementation remained slow during the last three years. The project has zero procurement activity completed,” the World Bank said, pointing to several factors for the delay. 

These include the alleged inexperience of the National BRT Program Management Office, inefficient procurement management, lack of general government budget allocation, and the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The World Bank noted several reasons for the delay as it canceled the loan for the BRT project

The multilateral lender had earlier flagged the BRT project as having worsened from “moderately unsatisfactory” to “unsatisfactory” in April 2022 due to sluggish implementation. It noted that “there has been no structuring to date,” seven months before the loan expires.    

Spanning 11.5 kilometers from Quezon Avenue to España Boulevard via Elliptical Road, the proposed BRT Line 1 would have reduced travel time between Quezon Memorial Circle and Manila city hall from two hours to 43 minutes. As many as 300,000 commuters would have been ferried on board 167 high-quality buses if the project became operational in June 2022. 

Two more BRT lines were proposed for EDSA (Central Corridor Line 2) and Cebu, the latter spanning 23 kilometers between Bulacao and Talamban for Php 11 billion. However, the Department of Transportation (DOTr) under former Secretary Arthur Tugade reportedly did not include the BRT projects in the Php 5.02 trillion national budget for 2022. Nevertheless, work on the Cebu BRT line has reportedly commenced, with bidding for Package 1 of the project expected to begin by August, according to BRT Project Head Engr. Norvin Imbong. 

Former Transport Secretary Arthur Tugade said that a BRT system would only worsen congested thoroughfares 

In a letter to the Department of Finance (DOF) in December 2017, the DOTr had moved to cancel the project, citing a preliminary study by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) on the feasibility of constructing a BRT in Metro Manila and Cebu. Among the challenges mentioned were the presence of too many flyovers and narrow city roads. 

In May 2018, the DOTr wrote another letter to the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA), pushing for a railway project instead. 

Get more mobility-related updates at Philkotse.com.