THE Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) said its dry run of the single ticketing system in five cities in the National Capital Region (NCR) was “successful despite some birth pains.
“Successful po yung ating launch doon sa limang siyudad. Wala po tayong nakita o na-observe o na-report na major na pagkakamali, challenges, issues, complaints,” MMDA chairman Romando Artes told reporters.
Artes admitted however, that some adjustments still have to be done for a smoother implementation of the scheme.
“As in other new projects of the government, there are birth pains. There are adjustments that needed to be done,” he said.
Artes suggested conducting more training for enforcers in the use of hand-held single ticketing device as some of them committed errors on the input aspect of the device.
Land Transportation Office (LTO) regional director Noreen San Luis-Lutey said only five cities, namely, San Juan, Parañaque, Muntinlupa, Valenzuela, and Quezon City, were involved in the dry run.
Initially, the MMDA announced that seven cities would join the pilot run of the single ticketing system.
San Luis-Lutey said only limited payment channels were available during the dry run, but she expects this to increase in the coming days.
Out of the five cities that participated in the dry run, the LTO official said only San Juan was able to deploy a single ticketing system device.
Artes said San Juan bought its own hand-held devices for the single ticketing system.
The dry run for the single ticketing system in the NCR started on Tuesday, May 2.
The single-ticketing setup aims to establish a uniform policy on traffic violations and penalty system in Metro Manila.
The Metro Manila Traffic Code of 2023, which serves as the guideline for the system, covers penalties for such traffic violations as disregarding traffic signs, illegal parking (attended and unattended), number coding, truck ban, reckless driving, unregistered motor vehicle, driving without a license, tricycle ban, traffic obstruction, dress code for motorcycle drivers, overloading, defective motorcycle accessories, unauthorized modification, arrogance or discourteous conduct of drivers, loading and unloading in prohibited zones, illegal counterflow, and overspeeding,
The fines for these 20 violations range from P500 to P5,000.