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The modernized ticketing system for railways in the metropolis will be pilot-tested on Mon, Jul 20.
Under the testing phase of the Automated Fare Collection System (AFCS), a limited number of new single journey and stored value tickets branded as “beep cards” will be sold for P20 at the Light Rail Transit-2 (LRT-2) station in Legarda.
Commuters may buy them at designated windows and at two ticket vending machines located inside the station.
The new tickets may be used to exit from any LRT-2 station, and may be reloaded at any of these locations as well.
The minimum amount that may be loaded into the card is P 12, and the maximum amount is P 10,000.
Personnel from AF Payments Inc. (AFPI), the project’s concessionaire, will be present at LRT-2 stations to assist passengers who participate in the testing.
Over the following weeks, AFPI aims to expand the testing phase to other stations of LRT-2, until all of its stations are fully equipped to sell, accept and process the beep cards.
The transition period also aims to identify any possible bugs in the system, so officials from the Department of Transportation and Communication, Light Rail Transit Authority (LRTA) and AFPI will be ready to receive feedback from passengers.
The AFCS is the first transport public-private partnership project under the Aquino administration.
This shift to a contactless AFCS was envisioned by the DOTC and the LRTA to enable seamless transfers from one metro line to another by unifying their ticketing schemes, and to shorter queuing time for the riding public.
AFPI is a consortium of Ayala Corporation and Metro Pacific Investments Corporation.
Photo: Atty. Hernando Cabrera (Twitter)
This article has been re-published with permission from ABS-CBNnews.com.
