The Department of Transportation (DOTr) said Wednesday said it is speeding up the completion of big-ticket infrastructure projects worth P4.8 trillion to restore and sustain the country’s transport industry.
“We are rushing projects to reduce traffic, waiting lines, smoke-belching jeepneys, flight cancellations and many other passenger inconveniences,” Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista said.
Bautista said flagship transport infrastructures such as railway systems aim to provide the public with improved mobility and connectivity across the country.
“The big-ticket railway projects of the Department of Transportation aim to resurrect the country’s once thriving rail industry while promoting a highly sustainable form of transportation,” he said.
Bautista said with ‘shovel-ready’ infra projects and human capital investment, the transport department was “pushing this multi-sectoral approach to urban development.”
He said a big part of the agency’s budget was allocated to projects such as the LRT-1 Cavite Extension, MRT-3 rehabilitation, MRT-7, MRT-4, North-South Commuter Railway, Metro Manila Subway, South Long-Haul Railway, Mindanao Railway, North Long-Haul Project, San Mateo Railway, MRT-10, MRT-11 and LRT-6.
He said the Active Transport Program, Automated Fare Collection System and Public Utility Vehicle Modernization Program (PUVMP), along with other land and road-based initiatives, are also part of the many projects that follow the principles of transit-oriented development (TOD).
Bautista said of the 197 infrastructure flagship projects (IFPs) approved by the National Economic Development (NEDA), 73 were being undertaken by DOTr with a total value of P4.775 trillion.
The DOTr projects in the pipeline include more than 160, including 28 projects under the aviation sector, 26 under maritime, 59 under railways and 47 under roads.