CeBUS – an integrated transport model for Cebu, Philippines

Project Name

CeBUS: A Policy Memo for an Integrated Transport Model in Cebu, Philippines

Project Date

2022

Affiliation

Yale-NUS College

Team

Joshua VARGAS, Student
Justin STERN, Class Instructor

Joshua's Contribution

Research: desktop research, policy analysis
Design: graphic design, branding for proposed initiatives
  • Transport Routes
  • Demographic Data
  • Traffic Studies
  • Policy Analysis
  • Stakeholder Mapping
  • Urban Design
  • Policy Memo
  • Pitch Deck
  • Visualisation
  • Urban Mobility
  • Public Policy
  • Transport Planning
  • Southeast Asia
  • Adobe Creative Cloud
  • Affinity Suite
  • GIS
  • PowerPoint

As the culminating project for the advanced Yale-NUS course YSS4281 Southeast Asia Urban Planning and Design Workshop, students must build upon their work in research, policy analysis, and mapping exercises to produce a policy memo and pitch that will be presented to real-world practitioners in the Southeast Asian urban development space.

background

My project, ‘CeBUS – an integrated transport model for Cebu, Philippines,’ is a reaction to then-Mayor Mike Rama's pursuit of a ‘Singapore-like Cebu City,’ a claim he intended to back up with an unprecedented PHP51-billion local government budget. While his promises comprised beautification projects (such as a Merlion statue), to truly be ‘Singapore-like,’ Cebu must pursue policy interventions with structural implications.

I proposed the implementation of an overhauled, centralized public transport system, using an adapted version of Singapore's Service Contracting model that lowers driver precarity while enabling the city to integrate disparate transit modes. The pitch attempted to use Mayor Rama's ‘Singapore-like’ rhetoric to ‘sell’ structural changes to the transit system, while the accompanying reflection essay reflected on the role of transnational urban knowledge exchange and the value of ‘top-down’ policy in Cebu's context.

CEBUS policy pitch presentation (2023).

gallery

Tap on a photo to expand it.

Slide 1 of CEBUS policy pitch presentation. Cover.
Slide 2 of CEBUS policy pitch presentation. Mayor Rama's Singapore comparison.
Slide 3 of CEBUS policy pitch presentation. Overview of Cebu transport crisis.
Slide 4 of CEBUS policy pitch presentation. Main issues.
Slide 17 of CEBUS policy pitch presentation. Introduction of MCTA.
Slide 18 of CEBUS policy pitch presentation. Stakeholder analysis diagram.
Slide 21 of CEBUS policy pitch presentation. Branding for rationalized transit tiers.
Slide 22 of CEBUS policy pitch presentation. Conceptual diagram of tiers' network role.
Slide 26 of CEBUS policy pitch presentation. Adapted service contracting model.
Slide 28 of CEBUS policy pitch presentation. Outreach to encourage use & partnerships.

related projects

Horseshoe Garden

A design intervention for the historic Tiong Bahru Horseshoe Block.

Yale-NUS College2021

自主軟件 (Software as Self-Determination)

Interactive exhibition on Chinese technological sovereignty, developed entirely with Chinese software.

Yale-NUS College2022

Young Urbanists of Southeast Asia (YUSEA)

A pan-Southeast Asian network of young people interested in Southeast Asian urbanism.

Young Urbanists of Southeast Asia (YUSEA)2023

Filipino City, American Time Documentary Film

A short documentary film about night-shift BPO workers in Cebu City.

Yale-NUS College2023

code + design + sound © 2026 joshua vargas