Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista recommended temporary “fare discounts” for public utility vehicles such as jeepneys, buses, and UV Express in place of free rides in the EDSA Bus Carousel.
“Pre-pandemic fare matrix will be applied and the provisional fare increases implemented will be covered accordingly by the government,” Bautista said in a memorandum to Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) chairman Teofilo Guadiz III.
Once implemented, the minimum fare for traditional jeepneys will revert to P9 from the current P12, while modern jeepneys will be from P14 now to P11 pre-pandemic rate.
The DOTr said the discounted fares will be implemented in several parts of the country.
“What we are taking into consideration here are the routes across the country that have the most number of passengers,” DOTr undersecretary Mark Steven Pastor said.
However, he said the discounted fares will be temporary and will stop once the P2 billion fund for the service contracting program of the LTFRB this year has been consumed.