PH's first cable car system possible by 2028 — DOTr

The country's first cable car system may be operational by 2028 upon construction in Rizal, the Department of Transportation (DOTr) said on Friday.

"It's our first cable car project, we were told that it will take up to two years of construction. If we [can] award the contract in 2026, it is possible to [be operational] in 2028," DOTr Undersecretary Timothy John Batan said in a statement.

The DOTr said the Antipolo Cable Car Project will connect the MRT-4 Taytay Station to Antipolo City.

"We know that Antipolo is very dense, and has lots of residents and economic activity, so it will be complementary to connect MRT-4 to Antipolo City," said Batan.

According to the DOTr, the Asian Development Bank funded the cable car project's pre-feasibility study, which was finished earlier this year.

"The project appears viable. The next step is the detailed feasibility study which the ADB is also financing," Batan said.

The DOTr said the detailed feasibility study, which will determine the project cost and its passenger capacity, is expected to begin in 2025. Project bidding, meanwhile, will open on the following year.

In 2021, the Duterte administration reported that the proposed $100-million Manila Urban Car Cable Project of the DOTr was already up for approval by the Investment Coordination Committee (ICC).

Last December, the Quezon City government reported that a French company proposed the deployment of cable cars to ease traffic congestion. After its two-year study, the company found that it was feasible to establish a cable car corridor along the Marikina River, which straddles Marikina City, Quezon City, and Pasig City.

In Baguio City last June, Japan's Zip Infrastructure was set to study the feasibility of a cable car system in Camp John Hay, as part of an agreement inked with the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) which owns the property.

Senator Robinhood Padilla, meanwhile, recently suggested having cable cars to ease the traffic congestion in Metro Manila after his colleague Senator JV Ejercito called for the improvement of the mass transport system to address the country's persistent traffic woes. — VDV, GMA Integrated News