User:Zidlakan/Cebu Bus Rapid Transit System

The Cebu Bus Rapid Transit System is a proposed mass transit system for the City of Cebu located within the greater Cebu Metropolitan area. It is expected to become the first operational Bus Rapid Transit project in the Philippines. Only one line has been planned in detail so far, but scheme developers note the potential to develop a larger network comprising the adjacent cities Lapu-Lapu, Mandaue and Talisay. Leadership in both Lapu-Lapu and Mandaue have shown interest in the network. It is expected the first phase of the route could be operational in 2013.

Stage of Development
A Bus Rapid Transit system for Cebu City was first proposed by the former Mayor Tomas Osmeña in the 1990s, but it was 2008 when the Department of Transportation and Communication (DOTC) began formal planning. The World Bank is supporting the scheme financially and technically through its Clean Technology Fund. The Philippines National Government is also supporting the project financially as President Benigno S. Aquino III has placed it among his top 16 Public-Private Partnership projects to pursue. The current 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.

A pre-feasibility study was conducted by World Bank consultants Integrated Transport Planning Ltd in 2010 which concluded the scheme “is deliverable physically, institutionally and fiancially”2. A full feasibility study is now being conducted by the DOTC.

Route
The 16 kilometre route traverses Cebu City from Bulaco in the south-west to Talamban in the north-east, linking the following key destinations; Central Business District, Capitol Site, Ayala Shopping Mall and a proposed tributary to SM Shopping Mall. A spur to the 300-hectare Cebu South Reclamation Project (SRP) is also planned as developers Filinvest seek to integrate BRT provision into their development plans.

The BRT vehicles will run along segregated bus lanes that run down the middle of the road. Stations will also be located in the middle of the road and will be accessed by footbridges or pedestrian crossings. 25 stations have been proposed including terminals at Ayala Shopping Mall, SM Mall, Talamban and Bulacao.

A modified Jeepney network of is expected to operate feeder and complementary services to the BRT route.

Vehicles
Single deck non-articulated buses which hold between 85 and 110 passengers will be used. A running speed of 25 km/hr is proposed with a peak frequency of 105 buses per hour on the core route2. This operation is expected to carry 317,000 Cebuanos each day11.

Ticketing and Fares
Ticketing is likely to use pre-pay smart cards like that used for Rapid Transport in Singapore and Hong Kong. The pre-feasibility assessment for the BRT route states that if the fares were charged at the same level as Jeepneys then the ticket revenue would be US$15 million per year, of which US$1.5 million is expected to be profit/surplus11.

Costs and benefits
The route will be constructed in two phases, the first from Bulacao to Ayala Mall which should be operational in 2013 and the second from Ayala Mall to Talamban which should be operational in 2014/20152. The capital cost of the infrastructure is estimated to be US$115 million6, which equates to US$7 million per kilometre5.

The pre-feasibility study estimates that in comparison to using Jeepneys the BRT route will save Cebuanos 570 hours of travelling per year11 and will also be cheaper for the bus operators as BRT vehicles are cheaper to run than the existing Jeepneys. The overall cost benefit ratio has been evaluated to be 2.452.

If the buses were to run of diesel then the route is estimated to save 9,655 tonnes of PM10 emissions and 1.6 million tonnes of CO2 emissions up to the year 20352. However the DOTC is also considering running the vehicles on LPG, biofuel, hybrid or electricity which will reduce emissions further. Potential BRT Full Network for Metropolitan Cebu - covering the cities of Talisay, Cebu, Mandaue, and Lapu-lapu, passing through the South Road Properties (SRP), and connecting to the Mactan-Cebu International Airport (MCIA)