The Management Association of the Philippines (MAP) yesterday urged the government to consider the privatization of the EDSA Busway bus services and the three rail systems in Metro Manila to improve the mass public transportation and align it to global standards.
In a letter to Department of Transportation (DOTr) Secretary Jaime Bautista, MAP asked the government to consider privatizing the EDSA Busway, Metro Rail Transit line 3 (MRT-3), Light Rail Transit line 1 (LRT-1) and Philippine National Railways (PNR) through a hybrid mode.
The letter was signed by Rogelio Singson, MAP president, and Eduardo Yap, MAP Infrastructure Committee chair.
Under the hybrid mode, the gov-ernment provides the infrastruc-ture and its improvements, while aprivate concessionaire will operate the service and maintain the facilities under an operate and maintenance (O&M) concession.
MAP has offered to work with the DOTr and other private sector stakeholders in preparing the terms of reference for the bidding and award of the concessions to ensure a level playing field for all.
Earlier, Bautista said the government will bid out the MRT-3’s O&M as its Build-Lease-Transfer contract with its private concessionaire is set to lapse by 2025.
AP also recommended that the DOTr prioritize the total system upgrade of the EDSA Busway and bus service on the Carousel Line.
The upgrade will complete the EDSA Busway, a work-in-progress, as well as scale up its capacity and raise it to global standards to optimize the system to achieve its full potential as a cost-effective, efficient, high-capacity urban mass public transport system commensurate to the high-commuter density of EDSA.
This will also ensure the EDSA Busway’s long-term sustainability to ably serve its role as the complementary mass transport to the MRT-3, MAP said.
To improve commuter convenience and comfort, MAP urged the augmentation of vehicles at the EDSA Carousel, MRT-3, LRT-2, LRT-1 and PNR Commuter lines when conditions in their respective stations allow.
hese lines should have the shortest waiting time, and therefore the shortest queues, for commuters during rush hours, MAP said.
Among the busway upgrade measures recommended by MAP are: to increase the capacity of station platforms to accommodate larger number of commuters and enable simultaneous docking of buses; construct more stations to close the gap between stations and footbridges with concourse dedicated for the busway; expedite the construction of donated busway station footbridges; resolve chokepoints along the carousel line; replicate the busway in other major commuter corridors in the National Capital Region; provide ease of bus-to-train connectivity; provide bus exchange stations for trunk-to-feeder line transfer; decongest the Ayala stations and McKinley Road by providing an alternate route from Bonifacio Global City to Buendia stations; and introduce modern high-capacity bi-articulated electric commuter buses to optimize the full potential of the busway.
MAP also noted one essential recommendation — the issuance of an executive order by President Marcos Jr. to enjoin all relevant agencies to comply with the National Transport Plan of 2017, particularly to prioritize people mobility through public transportation and active mobility, such as walking and biking, by prioritizing the allocation of road space for such purposes.
Currently, busway station platforms and sidewalks are very narrow and grossly inadequate as the space required for them were allocated instead to augment private vehicle lanes pursuant to misguided car-oriented road management policy, MAP said.