President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. (center) attending the Regional Development Council 7 meeting in Cebu City. The RDC7 pushed for government funding on the feasibility studies of the Metro-Tagbilaran monorail and other mass transport systems in the urban centers in the Visayas. (PIA Bohol)
TAGBILARAN CITY, Bohol (PIA) — With no less than Pres. Ferdinand Marcos Jr., attending the meeting with key members of the Regional Development Council in Region 7, the council has formally pushed for funding the feasibility study of the Metro-Tagbilaran monorail project.
A monorail is an urban mass transport train with a single-track elevated rail supported by beams that allow train wagons to glide through to stations while moving commuters.
First presented to the RDC via the Development Administration Committee (DAC), the monorail project is seen as a better alternative project than the Panglao Airport to Tagbilaran City Bus Rapid Transit (BRT).
It may be recalled that the Department of Transportation (DOTr) has the BRT in its second tier of projects for the Central Visayas and its airports.
BRT is a high quality bus transport which promises to provide a faster and reliable transportation system that uses dedicated lanes, bus-only routes, priorities in traffic snags, systematized fare collection system, and related infrastructure that may include elevated highways and platforms, to be assured of rapid commutes.
According to DAC, the BRT could significantly contribute to the worsening traffic in metro Tagbilaran City areas, not to mention the pollution that it can add to the already decaying air quality over the metropolitan areas.
The monorail, owing to its dedicated rails, offers reliable mass transport, environment-friendly and easy infrastructure set-up with cheaper operational costs.
The RDC DAC chairperson has proposed for the monorail system that runs from Alburquerque to Tagbilaran City via Baclayon, Panglao to Tagbilaran City via Dauis, and Maribojoc to Tagbilaran City via Cortes.
Another line is proposed for Corella to Tagbilaran City.
As the RDC DAC has asked the DOTr to reconsider its tier 2 project and fund instead the feasibility study of the monorail system, this time it was the RDC 7 that presented to the president the monorail as among Central Visayas’ priority projects.
During the meeting, with the president in attendance, the RDC 7 resolved to request the DOTr to set aside the Panglao Airport-Tagbilaran BRT and instead fund the feasibility study of the monorail.
With the proposal for the feasibility study for the Metro-Tagbilaran monorail, it also sought for the feasibility study of other mass transport projects in the urban centers of Cebu, Bohol, and Negros Oriental. (RAHC/PIA Bohol)
