A consortium led by Philtrak Inc. on Monday proposed a P170-billion nationwide open tunnel transport system to resolve the country’s traffic congestion.
Philtrak president Francis Yuseco said in a letter to incoming Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade the Philippines Integrated Trackways Systems would transport people, agricultural products and cargoes across Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao via a network of interconnected open tunnels.
Yuseco, the inventor of the project, said it could be done as early as Christmas 2016, depending on how fast the administration of President-elect Rodrgio Duterte could implement it.
Other members of the consortium are Del Monte Motor Works Corp., Del Monte Land Transport Inc., Micrologics Systems Inc., Versatech Engineering Consultants Inc. and Land Excel Cooperation.
Yuseco said the open space tunnels would be completely walled-in, with regular opening slots to allow the entry and exit of specially designed passenger vehicles, cargo freights and farmers and fisherfolks-owned refrigerated and non-refrigerated vans.
“The entry and exist of all these vans and vehicles are pre-programmed with the local stations or base of the farmers and fishermen’s cooperative with a central command post armed with a hardware and software monitoring and data keeping program,” he said.
Yueseco said the open tunnels would be able to transport people without the attendant costs and subsidies of rail-based transport systems. “Another feature of the open tunnels is their interconnectivity to the country’s various ports,” he said.
Yuseco also proposed the creation of self-autonomous townships along and adjacent to the open tunnels.
He said the project was expected to resolve the country’s traffic problem, which cost P2.5 billion a day.
