The Management Association of the Philippines on Monday asked the Department of Transportation to consider the privatization of the EDSA Busway and urban commuter rail systems consisting of the Metro Rail Transit Line 3, Light Rail Transit Line 2 and Philippine National Railways commuter lines under the so-called hybrid mode.
The hybrid option calls for the government to provide the infrastructure and improvements in the systems.
The group asked the government to designate a private concessionaire to operate the service and maintenance of the facilities under the operation and maintenance concession.
MAP offered to work with the DOTr and other private sector stakeholders in preparing the terms of reference for the bidding and award of the concessions to ensure a level playing field.
The proposed privatization is part of a set of recommendations submitted by MAP to the DOTr to prioritize the total system upgrade of the EDSA Busway and bus service on the “Carousel Line”.
MAP said in a letter to Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista, the upgrade would complete the EDSA Busway which is a work-in-progress, scale up its capacity and raise it to the level of global standards.
The planned upgrade will optimize the system to achieve its full potential as a cost-effective, efficient high-capacity urban mass public transport system commensurate to the high-commuter density of EDSA and ensure long-term sustainability to ably serve its role as the complementary mass transport to MRT 3.
MAP also called for the augmentation of vehicles in the EDSA Carousel, MRT3, LRT2, LRT1 and PNR commuter lines when conditions in their respective stations allow.
These lines should have the shortest waiting time, and therefore the shortest queues, for commuters during rush hours, the group said.
Among the busway upgrade measures recommended by MAP include an increase the capacity of station platforms to accommodate larger number of commuters and enable simultaneous docking of buses; construction of more stations to close the gap between stations and footbridges with concourse dedicated for the busway; expedite the construction of donated busway station footbridges; and, resolve chokepoints along the carousel line.
