LA TRINIDAD, Benguet—The Cordillera office of the Department of Science and Technology on Thursday said it needed about P10 million for a full-blown feasibility study of the proposed multibillion monorail project between this capital town and Baguio City.
Victor Mariano, DoST-CAR regional director, said it needs the endorsement of the Cordillera Regional Development Council to do the feasibility study for the ambitious environment-friendly project aimed at addressing the traffic between these areas.
Based on its pre-feasibility study, the 5.2-kilometer line of the Automated Guideway Transit from the Provincial Capital to the Slaughterhouse Compound in Baguio City requires P3.8 billion, while the 2.1-kilometer AGT line from the Bonifacio Rotunda up to SM City Baguio passing through the central business district will cost approximately P2.9 billion.
Mariano explained the AGT system is one of the locally developed alternative modes of transport using electricity instead of fossil fuel to reduce air pollutants around the heavily populated areas of Baguio and La Trinidad.
Nancy Bantog, DoST-CAR assistant regional director, said the P10 million for the feasibility study was recommended for inclusion in the agency’s budget for 2017, but regional officials are not yet aware if this fund was approved.
The results of the study will ascertain if the government is capable of completing this project geared toward a sustainable mass transport system that would also reduce the monstrous traffic congestion in Baguio and La Trinidad.
“It will now be up to the RDC-CAR to determine whether or not to pursue the implementation of the project. We will have to wait for the next RDC en banc meeting what action they will take on the project,” Mariano stressed.
The La Trinidad and Baguio local governments earlier endorsed the pre-feasibility and full feasibility studies, as they see this project will contribute to reducing traffic congestion in the heavily populated areas of the two localities.
The AGT that will be installed will be similar to the one that was pilot tested by the agency at the University of the Philippines Diliman campus that turned out to be successful and worthy of being replicated.
The coaches of the AGT will be installed on an elevated platform over the Balili River and right at the central business district area to serve as a mass transport system for commuters to use instead of using their own motor vehicles in going around the urban centers.