Sen. Gatchalian: LGUs must establish own mass transport system
Senator Sherwin Gatchalian has filed a bill seeking to empower local government units to establish their own mass transportation system in order to attract more investors.
Gatchalian said Friday that he filed Senate Bill 951 or the LGU Transportation for interconnectivity and integration of existing proposed national and local intermodal transportation systems.
“An efficient transport system is critical in generating economic activities. We should empower our local government units to establish their own mass transportation systems,” Gatchalian said in a news release.
He said the bill is aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 11, which aims to make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable through access to safe, affordable, and sustainable transport systems.
The city of Valenzuela, from which the Gatchalians are originally, has partnered with Global Electric Transport Philippines to implement Community Optimized Managed Electric Transport (COMET) electric shuttles in Metro Manila.
The COMET units provide commuter transportation both inside and outside Valenzuela.
Through its Intra-City Subway project, which may run 18 hours a day and carry 700,000 passengers, Makati City is also working on a mass transportation initiative.
The subway project is aimed at producing 10,000 jobs for locals and is anticipated to lower the number of automobiles on the road by 270,000 by 2048, reducing Makati’s carbon dioxide emissions by 2.3 million metric tons.
According to Gatchalian, the bill enables local government units (LGUs) to develop modern, sustainable mass transit systems that support the idea of livable smart cities through a variety of financial arrangements involving both public and private parties. This is true even in the absence of a sovereign guarantee.
