DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 29 July) – Dabawenyos may go through major adjustments as a consequence of implementing the Davao City Public Transport Modernization Project, City Mayor Sebastian “Baste” Z. Duterte said.
During his 1st State of the City Address at the Sangguniang Panlungsod on Friday, Duterte said Dabawenyos will experience a “painful transition” once the government implements the bus system, also known as the High Priority Bus System (HPBS).
“Akong pangutana sa inyoha, andam ba mo mag baktas? (My question to you is this, are you ready to walk?),” he asked.
Under the bus system, around 1,000 bus stops will be put up at a distance of 500 meters in between stops along the 29 bus routes around the city.
Ret. PCol. Dionisio Abude, City Transport and Traffic Management Office head, told reporters in an interview on Wednesday that the buses cannot unload passengers anywhere but only at designated bus stops to avoid causing traffic congestion.
“At present, the loading and unloading of PUJs (public utility jeepneys) is not proper. With the bus system, we have specific bus stops, and they cannot stop in between bus stops,” he said.
Duterte noted that in most progressive places with a similar mass transit system like Japan, Singapore, and Hong Kong, the government controls the acquisition of vehicles through the imposition of higher registration fees for older units to dissuade people from owning vehicles.
“Nagkadugay imong sakyanan, magkataas ang rehistro (As your vehicles get older, the registration fees are much higher) because they want to discourage you from owning a vehicle so that you would use the mass transit. Mao gyud na (That’s it). It’s a painful transition. Ingon ana ra gyud na (That’s how it is),” he said.
He said the local government is keen on pursuing the HPBS, the country’s first integrated bus-based urban transit network system.
He said the city has committed to share P1.5 billion in the total cost of the bus project.
The total project cost of P73.4 billion will be funded by a loan from the Asian Development Bank (ADB), national budget, and local budget.
Last July 1, the Philippine government signed a $1-billion (P54.89 billion) loan agreement with the ADB for the HPBS.
The project would be implemented within the third quarter of 2023, commence initial operations by the end quarter of 2024, and full operations by end of 2005.
In a press release issued last June 29, the ADB announced that the project would “deploy electric bus fleets at scale in support of the Philippines’ efforts to reduce greenhouse gases and promote climate action.”
It said the loan would “support the procurement of a modern fleet of about 1,100 electric and Euro 5-standard diesel-fueled buses with operations managed by the private sector under performance-based contracts.”
It said the new fleet is expected to reduce 60% of annual greenhouse gas emissions from public transport in Davao City, the country’s third-largest city in terms of population.
It said the HPBS would service about 800,000 passengers per day.
According to ADB, it would include the “construction of around 1,000 bus stops with bright lighting and shelters, 5 bus depots and 3 bus terminals, and provide bus driving training for the new system.”
“The project will upgrade the city’s public transport experience via an intelligent transport system that includes a bus location system, automatic fare collection systems, and Wi-Fi connectivity in buses, terminals, and depots,” it added.
Once operational, the HPBS will have 29 bus routes divided into the following four tiers: MetroDavao (will form the core services that connect all major commercial centers along five routes), DavaoInter (will run along with eight routes connecting the inner urban areas directly to the Davao Central Business District), DavaoFeeder (will run along nine routes linking smaller centers and areas of more dispersed populations to the MetroDavao services), and DavaoLocal (will provide a link between the outer rural areas of the city and main transport system or the integrated terminals). (Antonio L. Colina IV/MindaNews)
