Costing Php5.6 billion, the Parañaque Integrated Terminal Exchange (PITx) was among PPP projects awarded by Aquino administration

After months of delay, the country’s first integrated and multi-modal terminal, the Parañaque Integrated Terminal Exchange (PITx), will finally be inaugurated on November 5 in time for the onset of the holiday rush and worsening road traffic in  Metro Manila.

“This is not just your ordinary terminal, but a landmark transportation hub that is set to uplift the overall terminal experience of our countrymen,” said Secretary Arthur Tugade of the Department of Transportation (DOTr) in a statement issued October 25.

The PITx was first scheduled to start operations in June 2018, but it had been repeatedly bumped off to later dates due to unknown reasons.

Its opening on the first week of November comes at a time when heavier road traffic is expected in Metro Manila as the Christmas rush starts to kick in. The Php5.6-billion facility’s basic aim is to help decongest EDSA and other major roads in the metropolis by prompting provincial buses and other public utility vehicles (PUVs) passing through Cavite Expressway (CAVITEX) and Coastal Road to start and end their trips at the terminal.

The DOTr did not clarify if the terminal’s inauguration on November 5 meant that bus and PUV trips coming from Cavite and Las Pinas would start dropping off and picking up passengers at the terminal on the same date. But a PITx personnel said the scheme will most likely be effective by November 6.

The PITx was one of the public-private partnership (PPP) infrastructure projects awarded by the Aquino administration and continued by the Duterte government. In 2015, the government signed a public-private partnership agreement with MWM Terminals Inc., a consortium of WM Properties Inc. and Megawide Construction Corp., to build and operate the facility. Megawide is also part of the consortium that built Terminal 2 of the Mactan-Cebu International Airport, which won public praise as the country’s first “resort airport”.

Formerly known as Southwest Integrated Terminal Exchange (SWITEx), the facility will feature arrival and departure bays, public information systems, online and on-site ticketing systems, baggage handling facilities and park-ride facilities. It is expected to cater to 100,000 passengers every day, with up to 4,000 passengers per hour at peak hours.

The terminal will also feature a centralized shopping center with retail and food concepts and health and wellness amenities. In the coming years, the facility will also house four office towers that will be leased by Megawide.

The company expects additional rental revenues of Php717.2 million to be derived from the project in the next year.