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DAVAO City (MindaNews/05 April) – The city will have a sustainable, strategic public transport plan to be produced by a team of international consultants at the end of a 9-month study that started last month, an official said Thursday.
Roberto Alabado III, chief of the City Planning and Development Office said the study is a grant from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) that committed $1 million for the project.
The ADB hired international consultants from Halcrow, a consultancy firm based in the United Kingdom, “to investigate issues and problems to help enhance the public transport system here,” Alabado said.
“It is not just a study but a project because they will submit a transportation plan that is strategic and will show issues and priorities of Davao City,” he told reporters.
He said the project is in partnership with the Department of Transportation and Communications, and will identify short- to medium-term projects to be done in three to six years.
The city was chosen as a model for a public transport system in anticipation of bigger transportation needs owing to growing population and traffic generators such as shopping malls, Alabado said.
He cited that the city government’s counterpart to the project include providing venues for meetings of consultants and technical persons to assist in their studies.
Asked if there’s a plan to build a light railway system here, the planning official said it was not yet part of the project. (Lorie Ann Cascaro/MindaNews)