Shared busway during road rehabilitation - DPWH

Metro Manila, Philippines - The temporary city bus lane may be shared with private vehicles pending the rehabilitation of the Epifanio delos Santos Ave. (EDSA) busway, said an official from the Public Works and Highways Department.

In an interview with NewsWatch Plus, Loreta Malaluan, DPWH director for Metro Manila, said the busway renovation will begin in the last week of March – initially from the northbound segment at the Quezon City-Caloocan boundary to Monumento Circle. She said it will take six months to finish this portion.

Fifteen segments from the southbound lane from Monumento to Roxas Blvd. in Pasay City will undergo rehabilitation as well.

“After makumpleto natin itong buong bus lane including itong mga gaps, lilipat na po tayo ang working area natin sa second lane. At iyong bus lane po, ang proposal po namin with DOTr ay maging shared lane pa rin po ito considering na meron na nakasara na isang lane para po ma-maximize lahat ng lanes na open. Then ang susunod po lane after nung bus lane, mag-proceed po tayo sa third lane and so on and so forth hanggang makarating po tayo sa outer lane,” said Malaluan.

[Translation: After we complete the entire bus lane, including the gaps, we will move our working area to the second lane. As for the bus lane, our proposal with the DOTr (Department of Transportation) is to keep it as a shared lane, considering that one lane is already closed, so we can maximize all the open lanes. Then, the next lane after the bus lane, we will proceed to the third lane, and so on, until we reach the outer lane.]

On the other hand, the DOTr prefers window hours for road sharing, Malaluan said.

“We hope na mag-agree sa atin ang DOTr considering na meron ngang lane na isasara para ma-maximize natin ang opened lanes natin,” she said.

[Translation: We hope the DOTr agrees with us considering we will close lanes so we can maximize those that are open.]

The special bus lane began in 2020 to address travel woes during the pandemic. It followed a fare system in 2023.

In a press briefing on Monday, March 3, Transportation Secretary Vince Dizon said the busway will stay amid the EDSA rehabilitation.

He said he already had an initial meeting with DPWH to discuss the rehabilitation.

“Magkakaroon lang ng kaunting mga adjustments sa flow ng ating mga bus depende po sa kung saan nagta-trabaho ang DPWH,” he said in a press briefing.

[Translation: There will be few adjustments on the bus flow depending on the rehabilitation site of the Department of Public Works and Highways.]

Malaluan echoed the transportation chief’s statement that busway operations will not stop.

“May gap tayo dito sa bus station para makapasok pa rin ang mga buses doon, at least two buses para makasakay iyong ating mga commuters…At nilagyan po natin ng barrier dun sa shared road para protection din dito sa ating mga commuters pagsakay po nila sa bus at pagbaba,” she added.

[Translation: We have a gap here at the bus station so that at least two buses can still enter for our commuters to board…We also placed a barrier on the shared road for the protection of our commuters when they board and alight from the buses]

The DPWH official said it will take over a year to rehabilitate all the lanes. But the agency is hoping to have it finished before the country’s hosting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nation Summit in 2026.