The Automated Guideway Transit (AGT) project of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) is well under way with the initial test runs already being conducted by the agency. Several demonstration runs were also undertaken to show the vehicle and provide an initial experience for various stakeholders including government official, UP faculty, the media and invited guests from the private sector. I am posting a short video taken during one demonstration run where faculty members from UP’s College of Engineering rode on the prototype and also made some initial inspections of the vehicle.

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The first phase of tests is expected to be completed during this first quarter of 2013. The next phase, which is expected to be a joint undertaking of DOST and UP, will follow immediately and should involve a multidisciplinary team that will evaluate the prototype. Such assessments are necessary to determine and address issues and/or weaknesses. It is imperative that the AGT would be proven to be safe and sound in its specs before a scale-up in the project.

Already, there are discussions on the future applications of this vehicle, and CBDs and airports are already being mentioned where the AGT would be most applicable. Also being mentioned is the further development of the test track to connect the UP-Ayala Technohub along Commonwealth Avenue and the future University town center along Katipunan with a line along C.P. Garcia Ave. Perhaps, too, such a line would have more ridership if it is extended all the way to Ateneo along Katipunan (C-5). While there is also talk on the AGT along the lines of the existing LRT and MRT lines, the reality is that AGT’s and monorails have significantly less capacities compared to regular commuter lines that are much needed in Metro Manila and other rapidly developing, highly urbanized cities in the country.

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