Investors see LRT, MRT fare hike as a sign of Aquino’s political will

MANILA, Philippines -- The government wants to increase fares for the Light Rail Transit (LRT) and Metro Rail Transit (MRT) systems in Metro Manila by an average of 56 per cent in a move aimed at reducing costly state subsidies that reached P13.85 billion last year, according to the Department of Transportation and Communication. The fare hike, the first since 2003, is welcomed by investors who see it as a demonstration of President Aquino’s “political will" to carry out unpopular measures. But it is opposed by others who worry it will make commuting more costly for students and low-income workers, who make up bulk of the train systems’ more than a million daily users. The fare increases are not uniform for the three train systems. Riders using MRT 3, the train system along EDSA, the metropolis’ main thoroughfare that connects Quezon City to the Makati central business district, will see average fares go up by a 59.9 per cent from only P12.30 to P19.61. On the other hand, users of the LRT Line 1 along Taft Avenue and Rizal Avenue in Manila will be asked to pay just 33.8 per cent more on average from P14.20 to P19. Those using the LRT Line 2 that connects Recto in Manila to Santolan in Pasig City will experience an average 41.2 per cent from P13.51 to P19.08. The fares refer to charges for stored value tickets. Single-journey tickets are charged differently. For some trips, fares for single-journey tickets will go up by 100 per cent. Better services? Hernando Cabrera, the Light Rail Transit Authority (LRTA) corporate secretary, said the agency will implement measures to improve services. The LRTA will post mobile vendors who will sell tickets to commuters in the queue to shorten the time it takes to enter the stations. He said toilets, elevators and escalators will be better maintained. However, cutting the average headway or gap between trains from 3-5 minutes to 2-3 minutes, which is crucial in deploying more trains and reducing congestion at the platforms, will take more time because it will entail upgrading the signaling systems and the rails, he admitted. Dante Velasco, the DOTC spokesman, said the proposed fare increases were approved Tuesday afternoon by the LRTA, the government corporation that owns and runs the LRT Lines 1 and 2 systems, and which is also poised to take over the operations of the MRT 3 system from the DOTC. He added that the approval is still provisional until after the LRTA concludes public consultations in February and March. He said proposals for discounts for special sectors such as students and senior citizens will be discussed during the consultations. Oddly, though the MRT 3 system will see the biggest average fare hike, the DOTC was not ready with the figures for the EDSA Line when it held a press conference to announce the LRTA decision late Tuesday afternoon. Velasco said they only had figures for the LRT Lines 1 and 2, prepared by the LRTA, but no numbers for the MRT 3 system. Newsbreak calculated the average fare increase for the MRT 3 system by using background data previously provided by the DOTC.

AVERAGE LRT AND MRT FARES (Source of basic data: DOTC)