The Department of Transportation (DOTr) on Tuesday projected completing the Manila Bay-Pasig River-Laguna Lake Ferry (MAPALLAF) feasibility study within the year.
“We are working with the Philippine Public-Private Partnership Center on what we call the Manila Bay, Pasig River, Marikina River, and Laguna Lake ferry system. This is something currently under study” Transportation assistant secretary Leonel de Velez said.
“This is part of the initiative of the President and the First Lady to really enhance the Pasig River and make it really livable again,” he added.
The MAPALLAF Project seeks to strengthen the transportation landscape by establishing a high-capacity, high-frequency but low carbon ferry system that will connect the Manila Bay and Laguna Lake through the Pasig River.
Velez said the feasibility study is seen completed within months this year and bid out to the private sector by 2025.
“One of the major aspects of the study is the demand. Before we make important infrastructure investments similar to our railways or airports, we need to conduct passenger surveys,” he said.
“We need to understand how many people will actually use the system. For example, if we have 100,000 passengers, then that will determine the number of ferry stations, that will determine the number of the ferry boats,” Velez said.
