The Department of Transportation (DOTr) is looking at possible locations for a large terminal for the EDSA Bus Carousel to avoid congestion and long queue of commuters in the vicinity of Monumento in Caloocan City.
“We are looking at three areas in Caloocan for the staging area or terminal that is similar to PITX [Parañaque Integrated Terminal Exchange]. One is the PNR Compound in Sangandaan Caloocan, second is the Victory Liner, which is four kilometers away in Valenzuela side and the other one is in Monumento area beside Starbucks restaurant,” LTFRB chair Cheloy Garafil said.
“Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista directed us to conduct ocular inspection in the three areas, and then we can decide if it is feasible to convert them into a staging area,” she added.
The EDSA Busway recorded a total ridership of 47,104,197 in 2021, serving an average passenger volume of 129,000 daily. The government tapped Mega Manila Consortium Corporation and ES Transport for the operation of the EDSA Bus Carousel.
Garafil earlier said that the EDSA Carousel can still stand improvements such as addressing the long distance between some stations in the major commercial districts like Cubao and Ortigas Center and the need for a unified Fleet Management System to better address the surge of passengers during rush hours.
She also said that the EDSA Bus Carousel lacked facilities for persons with disabilities (PWDs).
Garafil said the government pays P74 million to P76 million per week for the deployment of the Carousel buses along EDSA.
The LTFRB has already paid about P659 million for the two bus companies and will settle the remaining P300 million by end of this month.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. earlier announced the extension of free rides in the EDSA Bus Carousel until the end of 2022.
The DOTr earlier said the government needs an additional budget of P1.4 billion to finance the free bus rides for commuters until the end of the year.
The previous administration earlier allotted P7 billion for the Libran Sake program from the national budget, which will end by September this year.