Introduction of bus and BRT systems along a major road corridor in Iloilo City, Philippines

Abstract

Over the years, urban travel demand in Philippines has increased tremendously amounting to the need of high capacity public transport as an urban mobility. Primarily, urban population growth, migration from rural areas, the growing economy and booming of industries have contributed significantly to the increase in travel demand in Philippine cities. One of the emerging highly urbanized cities in the Philippines is the city of Iloilo, which has a rapidly increasing travel demand due to the establishment of mixed-use developments recently. This study aims to introduce bus and BRT systems for two main service routes from Ungka to Iloilo City: via Lopez-Jaena Street and via Diversion Road. The study aims to evaluate the transportation impact of bus and BRT systems on the current public transport system, passenger movement, traffic behavior, and urban travel, and to assess the environmental benefits of the proposed high capacity public transport. Data were obtained through vehicle counting, onboard surveying of jeepneys and from relevant offices. These were calibrated using the software JICA STRADA 3 to create different transit models in predicting the new travel behavior of passengers in three different scenarios: without bus and BRT; with bus but without BRT; and with BRT but without bus traversing from Ungka to Iloilo City service routes.