MEGAWIDE Construction Corp. and Bangalore-based GMR Infrastructure Ltd. will propose to put up cable cars in Cebu as an alternative transport option to ease congestion on its roads.

The two companies, which teamed up to build the new Mactan-Cebu International Airport, said the initial target is for the aerial tramway to connect the country’s second busiest airport to big hotels and major drop-off points in Mactan.

“The conventional system is to build rail, light rail, even BRT (bus rapid transit), become very difficult to integrate in terms of different ideas and concepts [of local government units]. One of the best solutions in this kind of complexity is cable car because you only need the footing. It is quick to put up. Cost-wise, the cost of it is far more reasonable than rail so therefore, the usage charges are far more reasonable,” GMR-Megawide Cebu Airport Corp. (GMCAC) Chief Executive Adviser Andrew Acquaah Harrison told reporters last week.

Successful examples of the cable car system can be seen in South America, he said. Aerial tramways have been built in Latin American cities like Medellin, Colombia; Caracas, Venezuela; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; and La Paz, Bolivia.

“What we’re suggesting now, our concept is the cable car system could initially start in Mactan so that people specifically going to the strip way [where] you have all the resorts, could travel by cable car… It will connect the airport to the resorts and some of the main interchange points and then, you’ll extend it,” Mr. Harrison said.

The GMR-Megawide official noted the project will be built by the private sector, but the company is looking to participate.

“We have other investors who are interested… The first thing we want to do is to do some kind of feasibility study… The idea is to first introduce the concept to the local government and try to see whether we can get the appetite,” Mr. Harrison said.

As Cebu becomes more developed, he noted the government should now think of infrastructure projects that could accommodate the expected increase in number of cars on its roads.

“We need a lead time to really think about solutions rather than waiting for three or four years until we are in a Manila-like situation… In terms of right of way, you only require the footings. It’s really not complicated. Today, right of way issues, trying to get the land, etc., it’s very complicated. So we are really proposing this,” Mr. Harrison said.

Establishing the cable car system, initially in Mactan, could be done in 12 to 14 months, he said.

GMCAC won the contract in April 2014 for the P17.52-billion Mactan-Cebu International Airport Passenger Terminal Building project under the Aquino administration’s flagship public-private partnership (PPP) program.

Mr. Harrison said another proposal the government could look at is “a battery operated vehicle” which has no driver and carries six people, and operates on an elevated track. However, this would require “a lot of infrastructure… cable car has less infrastructure requirements,” he added.

The Department of Transportation late last year proposed looking at cable cars in Metro Manila, as well as in Boracay and Baguio to address the worsening traffic on roads.

According to the “100 Days Accomplishment Report” of the Transportation department, the areas of Pasig River, Boracay and Baguio have been identified for the operations of the cable cars.

Transportation Secretary Arthur P. Tugade has said operating cable cars in Metro Manila could be among the solutions to the country’s traffic woes. He noted the Philippines could learn from the experience of Bolivia which used the cable car system to help address the country’s horrendous traffic.

06 March 2017
By Imee Charlee C. Delavin,