BAGUIO CITY — The city government signified its interest to the Department of Transportation (DoTR) to avail of the government’s foreign-assisted low-carbon emission transport projects to be implemented to help in improving the state of the city’s environment.

The Baguio city government submitted to Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade the pertinent documents, including a resolution from the City Council, supporting the intention of the city to be among the chosen beneficiaries of the low-carbon emission transport system.

On 15 October 2019, a pool of experts from the concerned government agencies will be arriving in the city to conduct an initial assessment of the city’s ability to comply with the conditions of the project.

Among the low-carbon emission projects being considered for implementation in the city is a monorail project and a cable car from La Union up to the city proper and from the central business district area to Mines View.

Barangay officials will be invited to attend the meeting of the technical experts from the concerned government agencies and city officials on the proposal to establish a mass transport system around the central business district area as part of the overall solution in significantly lessening the traffic congestions around the city.

Previous studies show that the 5.2 kilometer La Trinidad line of the proposed monorail project costs around P3.8 billion, while the 2.9-kilometer Baguio line of the same has a projected cost of around P2.9 billion where such costs will still be subjected to the conduct of a detailed feasibility study to ascertain the real cost of the said project.

The putting in place of a state-of-the-art mass transport system is one of the identified strategies to address the worsening traffic congestions around the central business district area primarily caused by the increasing number of motor vehicles plying the major roads daily.