The review on the privatization of the operations and maintenance of the EDSA Busway project through public-private partnership (PPP) is on its “tail-end,” according to the PPP Center.
“The DOTr (Department of Transportation) needs to decide whether they will proceed to the next stage or return the proposal,” said
Jeffrey Manalo, PPP deputy executive director, told reporters at the sidelines of the Economic Journalists Association of the Philippines-San Miguel Corp. business journalism seminar in Baguio City over the weekend.
The DOTr eyes to bid out the operations and maintenance of the EDSA Busway project as early as next year.
The agency recently said it is finalizing the feasibility study for the project which will then be submitted to the National Economic and Development Authority for approval in the next few months.
DOTR said before that among the things aimed to be answered by the feasibility study is the decision whether to tap a single operator for the entire project, including both the buses and the busway or bring in two separate operators.
The DOTr also recently had a market sounding on the project to hear from potential bidders out of a pool of bus operators; bus manufacturers and contractors; banks; and financial institutions, among others.
At present, the EDSA Busway has 21 stations for pickup and drop-off points from Monumento to the Parañaque Integrated Terminal Exchange.
The DOTr first launched the EDSA Busway project in June 2020 to provide seamless travel for commuters which has successfully reduced the end-to-end travel time on EDSA from three hours to one and a half hours.
Recently, through a partnership with SM Prime Holdings Inc., construction of the EDSA Busway concourse in Ortigas also started and is slated to be completed this July.
DOTr said before that other sites will be constructed by D.M. Wenceslao and Associates Inc. for the Aseana EDSA Busway Station while Double Dragon Corp. will construct the Macapagal EDSA Busway Station.
