EDSA Busway at risk: Zero funding threatens service for 183,000 daily riders

The EDSA Busway faces possible service disruptions next year after receiving zero allocation in the proposed 2027 national budget, threatening a transport system that serves up to 183,000 commuters daily.

Transportation Secretary Giovanni Lopez warned Monday that without funding, the Department of Transportation (DoTr) would struggle to maintain busway operations, pay personnel, repair facilities and keep stations clean, potentially undermining one of Metro Manila’s key commuter transport services.

“If no funding is allocated for the EDSA Busway next year, its operations will suffer. We will have no funds to pay our employees and security personnel, and the service will deteriorate. We will be unable to repair damaged elevators, and the facilities could become dirty because we would not know who would maintain them,” Lopez said in Filipino at the Economic Journalists Association of the Philippines Infrastructure Forum 2026 in Makati City.

The DoTr is seeking the restoration of its P1.756-billion funding proposal for the EDSA Busway, also known as the EDSA Carousel, after the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) excluded the project from the proposed 2027 National Expenditure Program.

The DBM reportedly cited the incomplete utilization of the busway’s current-year allocation as the reason for leaving it out of next year’s proposed budget.

Lopez said it was premature, however, to conclude that the project would receive no funding, as Congress had yet to complete the budget process, including the bicameral conference.

The EDSA Busway served 66,669,287 passengers in 2025, averaging roughly 180,000 to 183,000 commuters daily, according to the DoTr. Since its launch in 2020, it has carried more than 367 million passengers through August.

Lopez stressed that the busway deserves government support because it gives public transport users priority over private motorists on congested Metro Manila roads.

A bus can carry up to 70 passengers, including standing commuters, compared with the five or fewer people typically accommodated by a private vehicle, he said. Dedicated bus corridors therefore allow limited road space to move more people efficiently.

“If we are truly commuter-centric, then we must give it the attention it deserves,” Lopez said.

The funding gap could also delay ongoing station rehabilitation works at Bagong Barrio in Caloocan, Balintawak in Quezon City and Guadalupe in Makati City.

The DoTr is also planning new stations in Cubao, Magallanes and the Parañaque Integrated Terminal Exchange to accommodate passengers and improve connections with other transport services.

The department is pushing to replicate the busway model in other parts of Metro Manila to ease traffic congestion, improve public transport efficiency and reduce the time and money commuters lose to traffic. However, the proposed funding cut threatens the existing system even as the government considers expanding dedicated bus corridors.

Lopez said the government must address even seemingly minor maintenance needs to ensure reliable service, warning that a lack of funds could leave commuters dealing with deteriorating facilities and reduced service quality.

The DoTr is pursuing other major transport investments, including the North-South Commuter Railway, Metro Manila Subway, MRT-7 and LRT-1 Cavite Extension, alongside bus rapid transit and public transport modernization projects outside the capital.

For now, the fate of the EDSA Busway’s 2027 funding remains subject to the ongoing national budget deliberations.