World Bank approves $64.6M funding for Manila's BRT line

The World Bank (WB) on Friday approved the funding for Metro Manila's first bus rapid transit (BRT) system.

The Metro Manila BRT Line 1 will cost $109.4 million, of which $64.6 million will come from the WB and the Clean Technology Fund (CTF), the lender said in a statement posted on its website.

Managed by the Washington-based WB, the CTF provides developing countries and emerging economies with resources to scale up clean technologies that have strong potential for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

The Philippine government will fund the remaining $44.8 million of the project, the multilateral lender said.

“By providing an affordable and convenient public transport option, this project will help make job and education opportunities more accessible, especially for the poor residing around the BRT route,” WB Country Director Mara Warwick said.

“High-capacity transport systems like BRT help reduce greenhouse gases, boosting the country’s contribution to the global fight against climate change,” Warwick added.

According to the WB, the BRT project will provide safe, reliable, and comfortable rides for about 300,000 commuters daily along España Boulevard and Quezon Avenue.

Like trains, BRTs run on dedicated lanes, carrying passengers in large numbers. Unlike trains that run on rails, however, BRTs deploy buses, making the system simpler and cheaper to construct, operate, and maintain.

Expected to be operational by 2020, the project will be implemented by the Department of Transportation in coordination with the local governments of Manila and Quezon City.

"The project will also develop support infrastructure along the España Boulevard-Quezon Avenue route, including bus terminals and stations, segregation barriers, sidewalks, warning and direction signs, and pedestrian crossing facilities, among other facilities," the WB noted. — Ted Cordero/VDS, GMA News