Every bit of infrastructure that can ease traffic congestion in Metro Manila is always welcome. The project may not be the mega type that will cost several billions of pesos to build, but it can be enough to provide relief to workers commuting to one of the country’s main financial districts.
Alliance Global Group Inc. of tycoon Andrew Tan has proposed a two-kilometer monorail project that will connect the Fort Bonifacio financial district to the Guadalupe station of Metro Rail Transit Line 3 in Makati City. The conglomerate’s offer to build Skytrain is expected to benefit around 60,000 to 100,000 passengers daily.
As in any rail or toll road undertaking, the Skytrain project, which will tap the so-called automated cable-propelled monorail technology, is expected to reduce travel time from the Fort to the MRT Guadalupe station to just five minutes. The current travel time to the short distance can go as long as one to two hours.
The Skytrain monorail project, which will take three years to construct, could be interconnected with the proposed subway system that will pass through Fort Bonifacio.
Another monorail project connecting the Makati business district to Fort Bonifacio should be pursued. Conglomerate Ayala Corp. earlier proposed the project to decongest Ayala Avenue and other major road arteries in the financial district, where traffic could come to a standstill during rush hours or after a downpour.
The proposed monorails will serve as the direct link of commuters to the main railway system and reduce the demand for buses and taxicabs that crowd major thoroughfares in Makati and Fort Bonifacio.
Authorities, meanwhile, should act with urgency in approving the monorail projects proposed by the private sector. Commuters deserve a break from their daily struggle to commute.
Mini infrastructure projects like the monorail, aside from easing traffic, will increase labor productivity. They provide a cheaper and more convenient mode of transportation, improve the city landscape and reduce carbon emissions.