Metro Rail Transit 3 (MRT-3) fares will increase by the first quarter of 2024, the head of the Department of Transportation (DOTr) announced on Wednesday.
“Let’s talk about it next year. I understand it will be presented to the LRTA (Light Rail Transit Administration) board. It would not be difficult for them (commuters) if we don’t impose it yet. Most probably first quarter, next year,” DOTr Secretary Jaime Bautista said in a TeleRadyo Serbisyo interview.
“It will push through. We are reviewing it, maybe next year,” Bautista earlier on told reporters, after the Transportation department deferred the fare hike due to “infirmities in complying with the requirements and procedure.”
The MRT-3 management is asking for additional P2.29 for the boarding fee and a P0.21 fare increase per kilometer.
If approved, the minimum fare will go up to P16 from the current P13, while an end-to-end trip from North Avenue station to Taft Avenue station would go up to P34 from the current P28.
The MRT3 management earlier said it would re-file its petition for a fare hike this week.
The national government is currently subsidizing a significant portion of the MRT-3 fares.
DOTr Transport Assistant Secretary and MRT-3 officer-in-charge Jorjette Aquino said the MRT-3 has been operating at a loss, with the government subsidizing around P41 per passenger fare.
Aquino asserted that the last time the MRT-3 adjusted its fares was in 2015.
“We believe that this fare adjustment is on the right side of the future of the rail system. The government should be sensitive about the people’s welfare over the long-term effectiveness and sustainability of our rail system. We want to make the MRT-3 system sustainable to build more and serve more,” Aquino said.
“The comment of the LTFRB (Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board) is that the proposed adjustments are still lower than those of city buses, city bus aircons, and MPUJs,” Aquino said.
“As per NEDA (National Economic Development Authority), the fare adjustment’s impact on inflation is minimal, while the additional revenue would ease the burden on the national government to increase the subsidies to MRT-3,” she added.
Aquino, however, clarified that implementation of the propose adjustment will not take effect immediately.
“Give or take three months after the refiling this week, if approved by the Rail Regulatory Unit. The expectation is late March or early April next year,” Aquino said.
The DOTr earlier approved a fare adjustment for LRT Line 1 and Line 2, which consists of an additional P2.29 boarding fare and P0.21 distance fare per kilometer, from the existing P11.00 boarding fare and P1.00 distance fare.
The rail system, which serves over 500,000 passengers daily and runs the length of EDSA from Caloocan in the north of Metro Manila to Paranaque in the south, currently charges fares from P13 to P28 per passenger.
Metro Rail Transit Corporation, the firm that runs the system, earlier filed an additional P2.29 boarding fare and P0.21 distance fare per kilometer to finance its operating expenses.
As of November last year, the MRTC claimed the train system’s total expenses amounted to P8.96 billion with total revenue at just P1.1 billion, or a deficit of P7.8 billion — leading to an P88.34 government subsidy for every passenger.
Envisioned in the 1970s as part of various feasibility studies, the 13-station, 16.9-kilometer line was the second rapid transit line to be built in Metro Manila when it started full operations in 2000 under a 25-year concession agreement between its private owners and the DOTr.
The department earlier approved a fare adjustment for LRT Line 1 and Line 2, the first train systems in the metropolis, which consists of an additional P2.29 boarding fare and P0.21 distance fare per kilometer, from the existing P11.00 boarding fare and P1.00 distance fare.
Then-Transportation Undersecretary Cesar Chavez had said the LRT-1 and LRT-2 deserve a modest fare increase after its operators’ petitions were denied for the past eight years.
Chavez, who has moved to the Palace communications team, said that the actual rates for end-to-end travel on the LRT-2 from Antipolo to Recto costs P178 per passenger, but only P30 is being charged.
“Therefore, P148 is the indicative subsidy by the government for each passenger from end to end,” Chavez said.
The same can be said of the actual cost of end-to-end train rides on the LRT-1, Chavez said, stressing that LRT-1’s operator Light Rail Manila Corporation (LRMC) has been asking for a fare increase since 2016.