Citom endorses SRP bus routes

THE public may soon find it easy to go to establishments at the South Road Properties (SRP) after the City Traffic Operations Management (Citom) Board endorsed the opening of two bus routes that will serve the area.

SM Prime Holdings Inc., which is building the largest mall in the Visayas and Mindanao on its 30-hectare lot at the SRP, sought the opening of four bus routes there.

Residential and commercial buildings in SRP will start to open later this year, but there is still no public transport system there at present.

Among the proposed bus routes is the Talisay-SRP-Talisay route, while another one will start from Talisay to the North Bus Terminal, passing by the SRP, the downtown area near Cebu City Hall, SM City Cebu, the North Bus Terminal, and back to Talisay via SRP.

Citom approved only these first two routes, since these are the only ones consistent with the City Government’s transport strategy for the SRP.

The new routes will be operated by only one concessionaire, who will be selected through open bidding.

Another proposed route was supposed to start in Mambaling passing by SRP, downtown Cebu City (near City Hall), SM City Cebu, North Bus Terminal and back to Mambaling via downtown area and SRP.

The fourth proposed route would start from Bulacao going to SRP, downtown Cebu City, SM City Cebu, North Bus Terminal and back to Bulacao via downtown area, SRP and Mambaling.

In an interview with Sun.Star Cebu yesterday, Citom executive director Atty. Rafael Yap said the Citom board endorsed the opening of the two bus routes because there is no public transport system serving the estimated 300-hectare property at present.

“It is right to open routes for a development area,” said Yap, who is also chairman of the Citom Board.

In the plan

Yap said the opening of bus routes is already part of the plan for the operation of the SRP and that it has a technical basis.

Yap was referring to the final report of the transport study conducted by the Integrated Transport Planning that was commissioned by the Asian Development Bank and the Cities Development Initiative for Asia.

The final report states that an interim high quality public transport service should operate between the North Bus Terminal and Talisay City, in order to support the early development within the SRP, before the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) is set up.

The transport study report has already been submitted and approved by the City Council in June 2011.

“Considering that the request is consistent with the City Government’s overall transport strategy for the SRP, Citom board is favorably endorsing routes one and two,” the board said in a statement.

Mall route

In Mandaue City, a rerouting scheme that allegedly favors a newly opened mall is causing some business establishment owners a problem.

Close to 40 business owners complained against the rerouting of jeepneys in favor of JCentre Mall on A.S. Fortuna St.

Since December, jeepneys traveling on M.C. Briones St. from Cebu City have to turn left to A.S. Fortuna toward the terminal of JCentre Mall.

Jeepneys traveling M.C. Briones from northern towns have to turn right on L. Jayme St. toward the mall.

Foot traffic

The rerouting has made establishments from the intersection of M.C. Briones and A.S. Fortuna to the Maguikay flyover less accessible to the public, said Justin Ouano, operations manager of Vel-Ouano Realty Inc., which owns the commercial building North Atrium.

“It has lowered the foot traffic in the area, causing lower sales for the businesses in our building,” Ouano said in a phone interview yesterday.

In March, the number of persons entering North Atrium decreased by 11,000, he said.

The dry run for the rerouting, which was supposed to end last March, has been extended until June 27.

In a letter dated March 26, 37 business owners asked Mayor Jonas Cortes to revise the rerouting scheme.

Balance

“We understand that the City has to support new businesses, but with all due respect, we are of the opinion that it should also do its best to balance all interests,” read the letter.

Edwin Ermac, head of the Traffic Enforcement Agency of Mandaue, said the rerouting is not only meant to help make JCentre Mall accessible but also to decongest traffic on M.C. Briones.

Ermac said the City has implemented the rerouting to make large commercial establishments accessible to the public.

The City implemented a jeepney rerouting before to help commercial establishments in the Mandaue Reclamation Area.

Ermac denied the City favors certain businesses, saying all interests are considered when implementing a rerouting plan.

Ouano said he understands the need to make JCentre Mall more accessible.

“What we want is to get some routes back. If some routes can be reinstated, I think it’s not asking too much,” he said.

Ouano said the rerouting has made it difficult for pedestrians to cross the street because of more vehicles passing A.S. Fortuna.

Traffic

Ermac said traffic personnel are assigned to assist pedestrians in the area. He also said not all jeepneys passing M.C. Briones are diverted to A.S. Fortuna.

“We cannot stop the rerouting just because of the interests of customer-oriented businesses. Our main concern is the flow of traffic,” he said.

Last month, the City Council passed a resolution extending the dry run for the rerouting until June 27.

The Council extended the dry run because it could not conduct a public hearing for an ordinance implementing the rerouting because of time constraints and the election period, Ermac said.

He said the affected business owners can air their grievances once the City Council holds a public hearing after the elections.

New routes

As for the operations of the new bus routes at the SRP, the Citom Board said it should only be awarded to one operator who will be selected through open and transparent bidding.

“This is in order to maximize chance of positive financial performance and limit the possibility of the breakdown of services,” the board said.

The board specifically said that sub-franchising should be strictly prohibited.

The monitoring of the performance of the operator will be a joint responsibility of the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) and the City.

Six years

The franchise shall be for a period of six years only and shall include its eventual migration and inclusion in the Cebu BRT network.

Also, the board said that the franchisee’s bus operation plan shall be reviewed by the City and approved by the LTFRB.

As to when the City will open the bus routes, Yap said they are still waiting for the approval of the SRP-Project Management Office (PMO) chief and City Administrator Atty. Jose Marie Poblete, BRT-PMO chief Maricon Encabo and the BRT-Technical Working Group head Collin Brader.

Yap said they will meet with SM City Cebu Mall Manager Sherry Tuvilla on Thursday to discuss the matter.