LRTA's 2-day fare hike consultation starts Friday

The Light Rail Transit Authority will start Friday morning in Pasig City a two-day public consultation on fare hikes for its two lines and the Metro Rail Transit (MRT-3). LRTA Administrator Rafael Rodriguez said the consultation on Friday will be for students, while that on Saturday will be for multi-sectoral groups. "The public consultations will be held at LRT 2 Depot Cafeteria, Marcos Highway, Santolan, Pasig City, at 9:30 a.m. Anybody whose interest is at stake or who wishes to convey/ express his views on the matter is most welcome," Rodriguez said in a notice posted on the LRTA website. He said the registration for the consultations will be at 9 a.m.

Last Jan. 11, the Department of Transportation and Communications approved a provisional fare increase for the LRT and MRT. Passengers taking the MRT and the LRT lines 1 and 2 will pay an P11 boarding fee, with an additional P1 for every succeeding kilometer starting March 1. Based on the new rates, the P20 fare for LRT line 1 from Roosevelt Avenue in Quezon City to Baclaran in Parañaque City will be increased to P30, while the P15 fare in LRT line 2 from Marikina City to Legarda in Manila will be hiked to P25. The new fare matrix for MRT has not been released yet. But groups questioning the fare hike had launched signature campaigns and pickets against the move. '5 reasons vs fare hike' One of the groups opposing the fare hike, militant umbrella group Bagong Alyansang Makabayan gave five reasons for opposing the hike:

• There is no need for a fare hike as the present fares can already cover the cost of operation and maintenance of the LRT and MRT.
• The fare hike is anti-poor. The Mega Manila Public Transport Study of 2007 showed almost 68 percent of regular LRT/MRT commuters earn just less than P10,000 a month – just within the range of the minimum wage rates in Metro Manila.
• Public infrastructure is not business. Government should not consider as losses the subsidies it provides to LRT/MRT users and must instead deem them as public investment that will provide the economy and its human resources new or additional capacity.
• There are other ways to ease fiscal pressure.
• Fare hike is first step to privatization.

— LBG, GMANews.TV