- SM Prime Holdings has put forward an unsolicited proposal to build a 1.98km integrated monorail project connecting the corner of EDSA and Taft Avenue to Diokno Boulevard in Pasay City
- The Department of Transportation and the local government of Pasay signed a MOA on the project
- The SM proposal includes extension of the EDSA-Tramo flyover
- The unsolicited project will be built at no cost to the national government
SM Prime Holdings’ proposed 1.89-kilometer monorail and EDSA-Tramo flyover extension project got a boost with the signing of a memorandum of agreement between the Department of Transportation (DOTr) and the Pasay city government on Sept 22.
The MOA for the Integrated Pasay Monorail and EDSA-Tramo Flyover Extension Project was signed by Transportation Secretary Secretary Arthur Tugade and Pasay City Mayor Imelda Calixto-Rubiano.
The monorail project will provide easy access to the Bay Area, Pasay City’s central business district, connecting the corner of EDSA and Taft Avenue to Diokno Boulevard in Pasay City.
The project is designed to decongest traffic and offer seamless travel, Tugade said during the MOA signing.
Once operational, it will be integrated and interoperable with other transportation systems, including Light Rail Transit 1, Metro Rail Transit 3, EDSA Busway, and EDSA Greenways.
The project’s components and timetable were jointly presented by SM Prime Holdings and the Pasay local government to DOTr on September 7.
The unsolicited project, which will require approval by the National Economic and Development Authority Board, will be built at no cost to the national government. No direct guarantees, subsidies or equity will be provided either, according to DOTr.
The project will be issued an operating franchise by DOTr but will not enjoy exclusivity for “any corridor vis-a-vis other transportation projects.”
DOTr will share in the monorail’s fare revenues set at 1 percent for P15 and below, 2 percent for rates above P15 up to P30, and 3 percent for rates above P30.
In addition, the DOTr will have a 2 percent share in gross non-farebox revenues or earnings made outside passenger rides
