CHECK IT HERE: Higher fare rates for MRT and LRT effective January 4 2015
Ending years of indecisiveness, the Department of Transportation and Communication (DOTC) finally announced Saturday afternoon a massive increase in existing MRT and LRT fares, a move that will affect millions of Filipinos who use the train systems every day. The fare hikes are set to take effect on January 4.
The base fare for both LRT 1 and 2 and MRT 3 will now be P11.00, with an additional of P1.00 for every kilometer. With that, the new fare range will now be as follows:
LRT1 (Roosevelt to Baclaran): P30
LRT2 (Recto to Santolan): P25
MRT3 (North Avenue to Taft Avenue): P28
The photos used here were taken from the Facebook page of ABS-CBN News Channel. Please check out The Dailypedia for the fare rates for LRT stored value ticket holders.
Speaking to ABS-CBN News, DOTC secretary Emilio Abaya explained that the government is expected to earn as much as P12 billion with this increase. P10 billion of that will still be allocated to subsidizing the train system’s operational costs. The other P2 billion will, according to Abaya, will be used by the government to finance its social services.
“The savings can be used for development projects and relief operations to benefit those who never even get to use the LRT or MRT, the vast majority of Filipinos outside Metro Manila,” he said. In this part, Abaya appears to be echoing a similar point made by President Benigno Aquino III during his 2013 State of the Nation Address.
The Aquino administration has been vocal about the need to increase the MRT and LRT fare rates but wasn’t able to implement it earlier because of steadfast opposition from various sectors.
(PS: In a future post, The Filipino Scribe will be dissecting the rationale behind this increase.)
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