The Department of Transportation (DOTr) said the Davao Public Transport Modernization Program in Davao City is on track for partial operations by 2027, transforming Mindanao’s public transport landscape.
Mark Steven Pastor, DOTr Undersecretary for road transport and infrastructure, said over DOTr’s Sakay Na! radio program on Radyo Pilipinas that the civil works for the project began three weeks ago.
“This project will really change the transportation landscape in Davao,” he said.
The high-quality bus-based transportation system will have a core service lane connecting major commercial centers, nine feeder routes, eight routes to inner urban areas and links between outer rural areas and terminals in Davao City, Panabo City and Davao del Norte.
Inspired by the EDSA Busway, the DPTMP is a similar bus rapid transit system separated from normal road traffic in most of its stretch by concrete barriers on the innermost lane.
Funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the 672-kilometer DPTMP will create a network of efficient PUV operations across Metro Davao and nearby communities.
Worth P73.4 billion, the Davao Bus will likewise complement the Public Utility Vehicle Modernization Program (PUVMP), utilizing modern buses compliant with PUVMP standards. The DPTMP will also utilize 386 electric buses, 531 regular and 188 mini-buses.
The project will carry about 800,000 passengers per day.
The agency will also construct about 1,000 bus stops along bus corridors with shelters to protect passengers from the weather and construct five bus depots and three bus terminals, and establish a bus driving school.
Meanwhile, Pastor said that the Cebu Bus Transit Phase 1 will be partially operational in September to further ease congestion in the province.
At least 70,000 commuters are seen to benefit from the bus system’s pilot operations, which will serve the following stations: Fuente, Cebu Normal University and Cebu South Bus Terminal Station.
The construction for the Cebu Capitol station will follow, after finalizing its detailed engineering design to make it a median station from the previous curbside configuration.
Phases 2A and 3A of the BRT which are composed of 13 stations and 62 bus stops will be completed before the President’s term ends in 2028.
