BAGUIO CITY – The city government signified its intention to the Department of Transportation (DOTR) to avail of the government’s foreign-assisted low carbon emission transport project to be implemented in different highly urbanized areas in the country.
Mayor Benjamin B. Magalong said he already forwarded to Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade the pertinent documents, including a resolution from the City Council, supporting the intention of the city to be among the chosen beneficiaries of the low carbon emission transport system to help in improving the state of the city’s environment.
He disclosed that by October 15, 2019, a pool of experts from the concerned government agencies will be arriving in the city to conduct an initial assessment of the city’s ability to comply with the conditions of the project.
Among the low carbon emission projects being considered for implementation in the city is a monorail project and a cable car from La Union up to the city proper and from the central business district area to Mines View.
During the previous administration, the local government authorized a feasibility study for the establishment of a monorail from Km. 6 in La Trinidad up to Slaughterhouse in Baguio City and from the Bonifacio St. area up to North Drive where both monorail projects had a total cost of around P7 billion.
However, the Department of Science and Technology’s Automated Guideway Transit (AGT) project requires some P10 million to complete detailed feasibility study to ascertain the viability of putting up the said type of mass transport system right in the city’s central business district area.
In last Monday’s executive legislative meeting at the city hall multipurpose hall, a Manila-based company presented to city officials their proposal to put up monorails in the different parts of the city, particularly within the central business district area to provide the public with effective and efficient mass transport.
On the other hand, the company also proposed to put up a cable car from the central business district up to Mines View Park, one of the scenic tourist spots in the city, to help in addressing the city’s traffic woes and provide residents and tourists alike with a better mass transport system.
Barangay officials will be invited to attend the meeting of the technical experts from the concerned government agencies and city officials on the proposal to establish a mass transport system around the central business district area as part of the overall solution in significantly lessening the traffic congestions around the city.
Previous studies show that the 5.2-kilometer La Trinidad line of the proposed monorail project costs around P3.8 billion while the 2.9-kilometer Baguio line of the same has a projected cost of around P2.9 billion where such costs will still be subjected to the conduct of a detailed feasibility study to ascertain the real cost of the said project.
The putting in place of a state-of-the-art mass transport system is one of the identified strategies to address the worsening traffic congestions around the central business district area primarily caused by the increasing number of motor vehicles plying the major roads daily.
By Dexter A. See
Photo by: Armando M. Bolislis