Cebu City's request for shared BRT lanes sent to DOTr

Local

A PROPOSAL for the immediate rollout of shared Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) lanes along the Talamban-Ayala and Bulacao-Ayala corridors is now before the Department of Transportation (DOTr).

The agency received the request after Malacañang referred the matter for action.

The Office of the President referred a council resolution to Acting Transportation Secretary Giovanni Lopez in a letter dated Aug. 26, asking the agency to take appropriate action on the city’s request.

The letter was among communications from the Office of the President dated Aug. 26 and Sept. 1 that were endorsed to the City Council for information and guidance and included in the agenda of its regular session on Oct. 6.

The Palace, however, clarified that the referral does not amount to an endorsement or directive to implement the requested shared lanes.

The letter, signed by Assistant Executive Secretary Azzedine Sadsad-Morilla, said the request was being forwarded to the DOTr for evaluation “subject to existing laws, rules, and regulations.”

The council’s resolution, dated July 14, sought the immediate implementation of the shared-lane component of the Cebu Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project along the two corridors.

The request covers the Bulacao-Ayala corridor in the south and the Ayala-Talamban corridor in the north, which form part of the original BRT alignment.

Project documents describe the BRT as a Bulacao-Talamban corridor, with a segregated busway planned from Bulacao to Ayala and a bus-priority route from Ayala to Talamban.

The shared-lane component is particularly relevant to the northern portion of the project, where the original design called for buses to operate in mixed traffic but receive priority treatment along Gov. M. Cuenco Avenue.

The Palace referral comes as the Cebu BRT remains the subject of discussions between the city and national government over its implementation and alignment.

In July, the City Council rejected a proposal involving the Department of Transportation’s planned realignment of portions of the BRT toward the South Road Properties (SRP), instead calling for the original Bulacao-Talamban alignment to be retained.

The council’s latest request for shared-lane implementation, however, is distinct from that July action. Rather than asking the Palace to settle the route dispute, the resolution seeks movement on the shared-lane component of the existing BRT plan.

The next action now rests with the DOTr, which will have to evaluate the city’s request and determine what action, if any, can be taken under existing rules and the current BRT implementation plan.(TGP)