THE timeline for the launch of full operations at the Cebu Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) line has been pushed back to 2027, the Department of Transportation said, with the department still aiming for partial operations by year’s end. 

“(For phase two) we are still working on the detailed engineering design. For full operations, our target is to operate it by 2027,” Transportation Secretary Jaime J. Bautista told reporters last week.

The Cebu BRT is a 13.8-kilometer line with 17 stations, one terminal and one depot.

“You may be familiar with the EDSA Busway. We are replicating this concept of dedicated lanes for public buses in Cebu and Davao. We call it Bus Rapid Transit or BRT,” Mr. Bautista said at a forum facilitated by German-Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

He said that the project’s partial-operations timetable for this quarter appears to be on track, and involves about three kilometers of the overall line.

“Phase one is short — a three-kilometer BRT. It is still ongoing. In fact, I was just speaking with the contractor and there was no problem. Hopefully it is on time,” he said.

In February, the government broke ground for the first package of the project.

The project was initially scheduled for full operations by the second quarter of 2025 with partial operations. Once completed, the Cebu BRT system is expected to serve up to 160,000 passengers a day.

The World Bank said in July that it is looking to further extend the expiration date of the financing package for Cebu BRT to allow time for the submission of a restructuring proposal.

The $228.5-million Cebu BRT project was approved in 2014. — Ashley Erika O. Jose

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