MANDAUE, Cebu - Narrow roads and right of way issues in Metro Manila have prompted the Department of Transportation to halt its proposed bus rapid transit (BRT) system, Transportation chief Arthur Tugade said Thursday.

Earlier this week, DOTr officials told lawmakers that the department is withdrawing its multi-billion funding request for three BRT lines in Metro Manila and Cebu.

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"Na-realize namin na 'yung dedicated lane, na 'yung mga istruktura, magiging issue," Tugade told ABS-CBN News.

Tugade said the DOTr instead opted to improve the point-to-point bus system, and build a monorail between Makati and Taguig to decongest traffic in Metro Manila.

"Sa Maynila, in-okay na namin ang monorail, pina-elevate ko na going to Guadalupe to Taguig," Tugade said.

The construction of the monorail is expected to begin later this year and be completed by 2020, he said.

The DOTr is still studying if it can still push through with the construction of a BRT line in Cebu.

"We are meeting with the World Bank here Friday morning. Titingnan namin alignment at rerepasuhin namin ang programa," Tugade said.

The 23-kilometer Cebu BRT project that will ply the Bulacao-Ayala-Talamban route is pegged at P10.6 billion, initial proposal submitted by the DOTr in 2016 showed.

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