Megawide expects to make money from PITX in 2020

Megawide Construction Corp. said Friday it expects to make money from Parañaque Integrated Transport Exchange (PITX) in 2020.

“Full realization of revenues will be 2020 kasi by that time more commercial spaces have been filled up, passenger traffic will be more or mag-stabilize tsaka mas tataas na,” Megawide vice president and Corporate Affairs head Jason Torres told reporters on the sidelines of the PITX media tour.

Torres noted that some revenues will be realized this year but its “not yet the full impact” as PITX, dubbed as the country’s first “landport,” became operational only in December 2018.

Previously called the Southwest Integrated Transport System (ITS) during the Aquino administration, PITX was bid out as a public-private partnership (PPP) project in 2014.

The project was bagged by MWM Terminals—a consortium of Megawide and WM Property Management Inc. The consortium will operate the PITX for 35 years before transferring it back to the government.

The terminal opened for business in November last year, but commuters complained it was an inconvenience, noting that the terminal only complicated their daily commute and increased the cost of fares. Users also complained of long queues as only few buses served the terminal.

PITX general manager Mariano Antonio Arroyo Jr. noted there was an improvement in terms of service in the eight months since the landport opened to the commuting public.

From November 2018 to June 2019, the PITX has served at least seven million passengers, Arroyo noted, citing the higher frequency of trips from December 2018 to June 2019.

Arroyo emphasized the PITX does not charge any fee from bus operators. Its rental revenue comes mainly from retail spaces.

More routes will be launched in the coming weeks, which would increase passenger traffic and translate to more retailers, he said.

On Monday, a P2P route to Baguio City will be launched from PITX. Long-haul routes to the Visayas and Mindano will also be launch within the second half of 2019. —VDS, GMA News