More EDSA Busway stations seen next year

THE Department of Transportation (DoTr) said it expects to open additional Busway stations along Epi-fanio de los San-tos Avenue (EDSA) next year.

“By the first quarter, we are going to add three more stations,” Transportation Acting Secretary Giovanni Z. Lopez said at an event last week.

The DoTr said additional stations will open in Cubao, Magallanes, and the Parañaque Integrated Terminal Exchange (PITX).

Separately, Undersecretary for Road Transport and Infrastructure Mark Steven C. Pastor said the DoTr will be focusing on upgrading EDSA Busway stations rather than working on the planned privatization for its operations and maintenance.

“(Privatization) is not our priority at this point due to the fuel price increases. The agency wants to focus on ensuring that there is public transportation available, but we are looking at solicited bids after completing the station upgrades,”  Mr. Pastor told reporters on the sidelines of a briefing.

The DoTr has said that it hopes to privatize the EDSA Busway system by 2026 or 2027.

The EDSA Busway Project initially involved the financing, design, construction, procurement of low-carbon buses, route planning, and operations and maintenance of the busway, according to the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Center.

For this year, the DoTr is projecting 70 million passengers for EDSA Busway, citing greater effi-cien-cies due to mod-ern-iz-a-tion.

In a notice of award dated Dec. 29, 2025, the DoTr announced that the P251.06-mil-lion con-tract for the design and con-struc-tion of the new busway sta-tions and foot-bridges was awarded to Uni-mas-ters Con-glom-er-a-tion, Inc.

The EDSA Busway, a ded-ic-ated bus lane along Metro Manila’s main ring road, cur-rently has 23 sta-tions oper-at-ing round-the-c-lock. — Ashley Erika O. Jose