During a courtesy call between DoTr Secretary Jaime Bautista and Swedish Ambassador Her Excellency Annika Thunborg, an offer from Sweden to aid with the EDSA Busway project was relayed to the Philippines. What is this exactly?

For those who aren’t in the know, free bus rides have been offered through the EDSA Carousel route until the end of the year. This program called “Libreng Sakay” was given the herculean task of revitalizing the economy through ease of transport for the citizenry. This is a monumental effort that we truly applaud.

However, just because it’s free doesn’t mean any quality will pass. Sweden has offered to streamline the EDSA Busway operations and make them more efficient. This is in line with the DoTr’s goal of improving local public transport to the point where it can compete against the world’s best. Partnered with the government in this undertaking are Mega Manila Consortium Corporation and ES Transport.

Thankfully, the current administration has accepted this offer in pursuit of “accessible, affordable, comfortable, and safe transport service throughout the country.” Improvements have continuously been made, including the inauguration of new busway stations and analysis of user traffic and choke points.

Hopefully, all these efforts result in less hassles for people when commuting, and a decrease in the lines we see during rush hour. If this all goes well, private vehicles may be decreased on the road leading to traffic decongestion – the only reason automobiles are such a big thing in the Metro is because of car-centric urban planning, after all.