For starters, it would relocate bus terminals in Quezon City.
An alternative central station for bus and other public vehicles in the northern part of Metro Manila is gathering dust.
The project, dubbed the North Integrated Transport System, or North ITS Project, is supposed to remove the provincial bus terminals that have been choking traffic in major thoroughfares including EDSA.
Newly-appointed Department of Transportation Secretary (DOTr) Vince Dizon, perhaps, should revisit the project and speed up its construction. The North ITS Project is a promising solution to Metro Manila’s traffic congestion.
The DOTr back in 2023 obtained funding support from the Public-Private Partnership Center for a pre-feasibility study on the North ITS Project.
The North ITS Project seeks to establish an integrated, multi-modal transport and logistics system designed as a multi-level and mixed-use terminal facility in the northern part of Metro Manila.
The commuting public would benefit from the project through a significant reduction in traffic congestion along EDSA. For starters, it would relocate bus terminals in Quezon City.
The North ITS Project would create effective interconnections between several transport modes and services, increasing access to public transportation services for the commuting public.
As an integrated terminal facility, it is expected to host northbound provincial buses from Metro Manila and vice versa, serve passengers bound for/departing from areas in the northern part of capital region and connect passengers to other urban transport systems, which are serving inner Metro Manila.
The proposed terminal facility aligns with the sustainable development goals of the United Nations. It will incorporate universal design principles, gender responsive features and crime prevention through environmental design to address the needs of persons with limited mobility, senior citizens, women and other vulnerable groups.
It is also expected to be responsive to environmental changes by integrating climate-appropriate and disaster-resilient design and using energy-efficient materials in the development of facilities.
The North ITS Project compliments Project Hub, a major transportation terminal in Quezon City that will be bigger than the size of the Parañaque Integrated Terminal Exchange (PITX).
Project HUB is rising on a three-hectare Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) lot along Elliptical Circle at the corner of Commonwealth Ave.
By 2027, the hub will greatly enhance access to the neighboring Philcoa Station of the MRT-7 when it begins operating from the North Triangle Common Station in North Edsa to San Jose del Monte City in Bulacan.
This centrally-located terminal aims to maximizes connectivity with the city and surrounding regions. GSIS president and general manager Jose Arnulfo Veloso has touted Project Hub as a world-class intermodal transport hub that streamlines the bus travel experience, focusing on efficiency, passenger comfort, and seamless connectivity with other transport modes including the MRT-7.
The ITS Project and Project Hub are two critical projects that could significantly ease traffic congestion in Metro Manila.
The PITX in Parañaque is a step to decongesting Metro Manila, serving as gateway to the south of the capital region. It has also served as a terminal for over 105 bus destinations—72 provincial and 33 in-city.
Decongesting traffic in Metro Manila, however, is not an easy task. The earlier proposal of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to pursue the development of nearby provinces and cities to decongest Metro Manila is, perhaps, the only pragmatic solution to the traffic gridlock.
President Marcos was likely referring the migration of future or current economic activities to areas outside of the urban capital as a way to declog Metro Manila.
As I’ve written in this column before, new and expanded roads and railway networks will ease traffic in the metropolis—but they can only provide quick fix remedies to the urban snarl.
A growing population, the lack of mass transportation system and wide roads, and the continuous migration of workers from the provinces have created the logjam that we are experiencing now. Growing vehicle sales in the Philippines are further constricting the capacities of the roads in Metro Manila.
But baby steps such as the north ITS Project and Project Hub will provide a relief until the state take a real holistic approach to the traffic problem.
E-mail: rayenano@yahoo.com or extrastory2000@gmail.com