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Not surprisingly, this announcement has shocked many Metro Manila commuters.
“The Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) has announced that the implementation of the Metro Rail Transit (MRT)-3, Light Rail Transit (LRT) 1, and 2 will take effect on January 4, 2015,” reports ABS-CBNnews.com.
DOTC Secretary Jun Abaya was quoted as saying, “It’s a tough decision, but it had to be made. It’s been several years since an increase was proposed. We delayed its implementation one last time until after the Christmas season. While 2015 will see increased fares, it will also see marked improvements in our LRT and MRT services.”
The report noted: “Despite inflation and rising operational costs over the years, the last fare increase for LRT-1 was in 2003. LRT-2’s fares, on the other hand, have never been increased.”
The report went on to point out: “For MRT-3, not only have its fares never been increased, they were in fact lowered: from the original range of PHP17 to PHP34 in 1999, fares were decreased to PHP12 to PHP20 in 2000. Currently, it is lower at a range of PHP10 to PHP15.”
Thus, the current LRT and MRT operations are subsidized by government in the amount of approximately PHP12 billion per year.
Check out the charts with the increased fares below. (Click on each photo for a larger image.)
Photos: WikiCommons (MRT) and ABS-CBN News (fare matrix charts)
