The P18.6 billion High Priority Bus System or HPBS of Davao City was approved by the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Board on November 29.
The HPBS is part of the Davao Public Transport Modernization Project which aims to establish a modern, comfortable and convenient city-wide bus system that will replace the current Public Utility Jeepneys (PUJ). The system will cover 137 kilometers as core network and 489 kilometers as feeder routes.
The modernization will entail the procurement of modern low-floor buses which are spacious, airconditioned and PWD friendly giving utmost riding comfort to its passengers.
The funding will be sourced from the Asian Development Bank as an official development assistance or ODA.
The DPTMP will include public transport system improvement, institutional capacity strengthening and social development program which will help transition the stakeholders of the current public transport sector affected by the modernization.
The DPTMP and the HPBS are expected to be implemented from 2020 to 2023.
The Davao City government is already implementing seeds of the HPBS with its Peak Hour Augmentation Bus System or PHABS which is the deployment of low floor city buses to underserved routes giving relief to burdened commuters.
The City Government has allocated an initial P100-million to jumpstart the Davao Integrated Bus System with initial two routes for implementation and will later expand to six routes.(By Rudolph Ian Alama)
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