THE DEPARTMENT of Transportation (DoTr) announced Tuesday, July 3, that it will implement an intermodal Integrated Transportation System (ITS) in Metro Cebu within the next two years.
“There is no single solution to address transportation issues. It needs a basket of solutions, that is why we are pursuing the implementation of the Integrated Transportation System in Cebu in the next two years,” DoTr Secretary Arthur P. Tugade said in a statement.
The ITS includes a point-to-point (P2P) bus system similar to MyBus, which is already operational in the city; a monorail in Lapu-Lapu City; the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) in three-lane roads; and the Light Rail Transit (LRT) lines from Carcar to Danao, and Mandaue to the Mactan-Cebu International Airport.
“The ITS was developed after due consideration of Metro Cebu’s road profile, and the fast-growing need of efficient mass transport systems in bigger, inter-connected cities,” said Mr. Tugade, who met with World Bank representatives in June, during which the transport plan was drafted.
Among the ITS components, Mr. Tugade sees the P2P bus system as the fastest to implement.
“There’s already an established system which the DoTr sees its potential to complement with other mass transit systems. All we need to do is to add more units,” he said.
The monorail, meanwhile, will become Mactan Island’s transport system, connecting the airport to different hotels and resorts in the tourist island.
The LRT system, which will run from Carcar to Danao City, is intended to cater to inter-city passengers.
A Singaporean-Chinese and Filipino consortium has submitted a proposal to construct a $3-billion LRT system with a subway component in Cebu City, an above ground component from Talisay to Carcar and from Mandaue to Danao, with an airport line from Mandaue to the MCIA complex.
“The LRT will become the main arterial backbone of Cebu’s mass transportation, with other ITS components as feeder lines serving internal peripheries,” Mr. Tugade said.
The metro-wide mass transit program is planned to converge in a Common Station, which will link the different ITS components.
The DoTr is studying two areas where the Common Station will be put up, one in a coastal district and the other in a city center.
Aside from the ITS, the DoTr is also considering the construction of flared intersections, road widening, and intelligence signaling systems as “other basket of solutions” to traffic congestion in Metro Cebu.

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