LTFRB reminds bus firms on fare matrix, discounts

As Filipinos continued their exodus to the provinces, the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board reminded public utility transport operators to post fare matrices in terminals and grant discounts to senior citizens.

 

LTFRB board member Ronnie Corpus issued the reminder in a radio interview Tuesday, amid reported confusion involving bus fares to the provinces.

 

"Ang sa fares dapat ang terminal may nakapaskil na fare matrix, doon babantayan," Corpus said in an interview on dzBB radio.

 

He also said senior citizens should be given a 20-percent fare discount, while children may be given a fare discount depending on their height.

 

The National Council on Disability Affairs' Memorandum Circular 2011-004 had decreed that children less than one meter in height "shall be transported free of charge and those from 1 to 1.30 meters in height shall pay half fare." 

 

Corpus' reminders stemmed from the reported confusion about fares of buses heading for Bicol during the Holy Week.

 

An earlier report by dzBB's Allan Gatus said many bus firms with Bicol-bound trips hiked their fares by at least P50.

 

Some of the bus companies were quoted in the report as saying they lowered their fares during the lean months, adding they had increased their Bicol-bound fares as early as March 15.

 

The report said fares of Bicol-bound bus trips cost P800, compared to P700 during lean months. Some air-conditioned bus trips to Masbate or Sorsogon cost as high as P1,800. — RSJ, GMA News