DAVAO CITY – The Asian Development Bank (ADB), in coordination with the city government of Davao, will complete the design of the High Priority Bus System (HPBS) project this year that will modernize the mass transport system and ease traffic in the city.
Kelly Bird, ADB country director for the Philippines, said the HPBS project for this city is already on the design stage and ADB is closely working with the city government.
“We hope to complete it shortly,” he said during the press launch of the Philippines hosting of the 51st ADB annual meeting at the SMX Convention Center.
Bird said the design would include a bus terminal, bus stops, and lighting. “And we aim to approve that in 12 to 18 months,” he said.
The HPBS project is being pushed by Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio to shift the city’s main transport system from the public utility vehicles on main roads and highways to the more modern, cleaner and efficient mode of transportation.
The project is part of the Comprehensive Transportation and Traffic Management Plan for the city.
The mayor earlier bared the HPBS will be presented anytime soon. The city will then set the preparation of the infrastructure requirements this year and the initial implementation by 2019.
ADB had conducted a study on the HPBS and showed it is a viable option compared to the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT).
HPBS involves the fielding of 100-capacity buses. Duterte-Carpio had said the project does not call for the total phase-out of the public utility vehicles (PUVs) because these would be allowed to ply the feeder routes.
But drivers and operators through their associations can become entrepreneurs should they want to be part of the modernized transport system.
“We do not want our jeepney drivers to be poor and sickly, we want drivers to become entrepreneurs and invest in the HPBS project where they can become partners to a modernized transport system for the city,” the city mayor said.
During the discussion stage of the project, Duterte-Carpio emphasized to the ADB that the project should benefit drivers from the HPBS project and for the city to shift to a better mass transportation system.
For this project, the mayor already asked the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) to exclude Davao City in its transport modernization project while the city is working on the HPBS. (Lilian C. Mellejor/PNA)
