Manila eyes Wi-Fi-ready waiting sheds

Vice Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso. INQUIRER.NET FILE PHOTO/RYAN LEAGOGO

MANILA, Philippines—Waiting sheds equipped with free Wi-Fi service and solar-powered streetlights will soon be installed in Manila, in line with the local government’s revival plans for the city.

Vice Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso earlier this week said a private company would shoulder the cost of the Internet connection and the building of waiting sheds at designated bus stops.

On Friday, Mayor Joseph Estrada signed a memorandum of agreement with Global Gold Goal Inc., represented by its president and chief executive officer Frederick Ordoñez, for the donation of almost 10,000 solar-powered LED streetlights worth P2.2 billion.

“These projects are timely because the city has no funds. The private companies will build these at no cost to the city and yet the people will benefit,” Estrada said.

The city is billed around P18 million monthly for the streetlights’ power supply alone, an amount which Estrada said could be reduced with the installation of solar-powered lamps. City Hall expects them to cover Manila’s six districts in three phases within two years.

Both the waiting sheds and streetlights will be fitted with monitoring cameras, as well as LED signboards for advertisements.

Domagoso said commuters may start seeing the Wi-Fi-ready waiting sheds within the next two weeks along loading and unloading zones for buses, as designated by the city’s Traffic Management Committee.

A list of these loading-unloading zones was attached to a proposed measure amending Ordinance No. 8092, or the Traffic Management Code of the City of Manila, which the City Council recently passed on second reading.

They include Quirino-Taft Avenue, Park N’ Ride Lawton Terminal, España before Lacson (for northbound buses coming from Cavite province); the footbridge in front of the University of Santo Tomas, Manila Multimodal Terminal, Luneta Park, Quirino-Taft Avenue (eastbound coming from Fairview); V. Mapa, Ramon Magsaysay Boulevard, Pureza Street, Arlegui Street, and Park N’ Ride Lawton Terminal (westbound coming from San Juan).

“This goes to show that while we’re enforcing traffic discipline, the city government is also sensitive to the plight of commuters,” Domagoso said.