Busway, railways will be privatized soon
For many motorcycle riders, public transport systems such as the EDSA Busway or MRT may be insignificant, because, after all, our motorcycles gave us the power to avoid using mass transport and conveniently own our commuting time.
But, in the event your motorcycle breaks down due to mechanical, electrical, or whatever reason, or if the weather is bad, you’ll probably use mass transport for the meantime and, just so you know, the government wants their operation and maintenance handled by a private entity, which could result in higher fares in the future.
Last week, the Department of Transportation (DOTr) announced that the government is planning on privatizing the EDSA Busway, much like what it did to the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA). Now, newly-appointed DOTr Secretary, Vince Dizon, says that critical transport projects should also be turned over to the private sector to make it more efficient.
“This is critical [privatization of transport projects] because I think that is the way to go. Sec. [Bautista] can be assured that we will really push that forward because that’s really [critical] to my mind and especially to the mind of our President the way to go to make transport services more efficient,” said Dizon during earlier’s formal turnover of leadership ceremony at DOTr.
Busway to go private by 2026, MRT soon
The operations and maintenance (O&M) of the EDSA Busway and MRT-3 rail line will be up for privatization with the former's feasibility study, which should be completed in a few months and is expected to be awarded by the end of 2026.
On the other hand, the MRT-3’s terms of reference (TOR) for both its solicited and unsolicited proposals are being ironed out by the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Center, Asian Development Bank and DOTr.
