DoTr OK’s LRT fare increases

THE DEPARTMENT of Transportation (DoTr) has approved petitions to increase ticket prices at the Light Rail Transit Lines 1 and 2 effective Aug. 2.

The minimum boarding fee will increase from P11 to P13.29, while distance fare will increase to P1.21 from P1 per kilometer, the Light Rail Transit Authority said in an advisory on Monday.

For LRT-1, stored value card users will pay a minimum fare of P14 for one station to P35 from end to end, while single-journey fares will cost P15 to P35.

For LRT-2, stored value card fares will cost P15 for one station to P33 from end to end, while single-journey fares will cost P15 to P35.

“Despite the absence of fare adjustments in previous years, we have established major improvements in the 38-year-old railway line with the increase in trains deployed to service more commuters,” Light Rail Manila Corp. (LRMC) Chief Operating Officer Rolando J. Paulino III said in a statement.

He also cited improved waiting time, station rehabilitation and expansion and the construction of LRT-1 Cavite extension project.

“We are determined to give people back their time through efficient transport and put more value one very peso that our passengers spend for every LRT-1 ride,” he added.

The last time a fare increase was enforced was in 2015, the LRTA said in the advisory. The latest increases would be used to fix and improve LRT-2 facilities, it added.

Meanwhile, transport groups opposed the fare hike, saying it should be shouldered by the government.

Prices remain high despite easing inflation, said Primo V. Morilla, convenor of Passenger Forum, said by telephone.

“People don’t feel like their lives have improved,” he said in Filipino, noting that higher train fares would make it more difficult for them. “This could be solved by subsidies.”

AltMobility PH Director Ira F. Cruz said it is well within LRCM’s right to enforce a fare increase, but this would add to commuters’ daily expenses.

“It is within their concession agreement to increase their fares; however, it has to be balanced by the government,” he said in a separate phone interview. “The concessionaire needs to be able to cover expenses but at the same time, it has to be within a level that commuters will be able to afford.”

Mr. Cruz said the government has yet to come up with a satisfactory mass transport system plan.

“The government has to be able to create a transportation system where people have a choice of mode of transportation so that we don’t encounter things like these, where people are severely affected by one mode of transportation,” he said.

“People have to be presented with an option to consider another form of transportation and that could be in the form of mass road public transportation such as jeepneys or active transportation,” he added. — J.I.D. Tabile