The Asian Development Bank (ABD) has approved a loan of USD1 billion to finance the deployment of more than 1,000 electric and Euro-5 standard diesel buses in Davao City, Philippines. The new buses will be operated by the private sector under performance-based contracts. Daily ridership is expected to be around 800,000 passengers.
The fund will also be used to build new transport infrastructure including 1,000 bus stops, five bus depots and three bus terminals.
Additionally, the ASEAN Infrastructure Fund (AIF) has also allocated USD10 million under its ASEAN Catalytic Green Finance Facility (ACGF). The Green Climate Fund (GCF) has also provided an USD50 million loan towards the project under the Green Recovery Program. The two loans will be administered by the ADB.
The Davao Public Transport Modernisation Project is the largest low-carbon bus deployment in the Philippines till date. The new fleet is expected to offset around 60 per cent of carbon emission from public transport per year.
