DOTC hints LRT-MRT fare hike may be deferred ‘til 2011

Commuters taking the Light and Metro Rail Transit (LRT-MRT) systems may get a Christmas gift of sorts from the Department of Transportation and Communications, which hinted Thursday a planned fare hike may be deferred to as late as early 2011. DOTC Secretary Jose de Jesus said they will learn more details about the fare hike when the LRT Authority Board meets later this month, then hold public consultations on the matter. “We will consider all of those. We will be scheduling public consultations so all the views can be considered and taken into account," he said in an interview on dwIZ radio, when asked if the DOTC will accommodate calls to at least defer the fare hike until after Christmas. He said he expects to learn more details when a study group formed to tackle the fare hike presents its findings at the LRTA Board meeting in the third week of October. When asked if the fare hike can be deferred up to early 2011, he said it is “possible," but declined to make commitments, saying the decision is not his. “Posible (Deferring the fare hike to next year is possible) but I cannot commit. The decision is not mine," he said. De Jesus said the fare hike aims to reduce the subsidy given by the government so some funds can be freed up for other social projects. He said the government is spending P6 to 7 billion a year to subsidize the LRT-MRT, in the form of “equity rental payment" to the owners of the rail systems. “The average fare being collected is way below the actual cost of running the MRT-LRT. We are reducing that amount but we are not removing entirely the subsidy," he said. De Jesus also said government is finding ways to expand the capacity of the LRT and MRT systems, noting the LRT is now filled to more than 90% of its capacity. He said their aim is to decrease the intervals of MRT and LRT trains from the present four minutes to two minutes. He said this can be done only by acquiring new coaches. “We will try to modernize to the extent we can afford it but we need more funds to improve the service because the cost of maintenance is increasing as the system gets older so we will need new coaches," he said. On Wednesday, Malacañang said the LRT-MRT fare hike has been deferred for at least another month, “pending the conduct of public consultations." “The government’s plan to increase the MRT and LRT fares has been deferred for another month pending the conduct of public consultations," a Palace statement said. Aquino marks his first 100 days in office on Friday. Several groups had opposed the fare hike, and have planned signature drives and protest actions against it. But the Palace statement also quoted presidential deputy spokeswoman Abigail Valte as saying the fare increase is long overdue. Valte also said the fare hike will benefit the riding public in terms of improved services, new coaches and more trains. The DOTC earlier proposed to slash the government subsidy for the transportation system by hiking fares starting this month. Malacañang noted the MRT transports some 450,000 passengers daily while the LRT-1 carries over 400,000 passengers daily. The MRT runs from North Avenue (Quezon City) to Taft Avenue (Pasay City) while LRT-1 runs from Monumento (Caloocan City) to Baclaran (southern Metro Manila). LRT-2, running from Recto in Manila to Santolan in Pasig, carries some 170,000 commuters daily. — LBG, GMANews.TV