Jeepney fares go up by 50¢ on June 14 – LTFRB

MANILA, Philippines - Starting June 14, jeepney commuters in Metro Manila, Central Luzon and Calabarzon will pay a minimum fare of P8.50.

The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) granted a P0.50 increase in jeepney fares for the first four kilometers and P0.10 for every succeeding kilometer, or from P1.40 to P1.50.

In a joint petition in December last year, jeepney drivers and operators asked that the minimum fare be  hiked from P8 to P10 for the first four kilometers and from the P1.40 rate per succeeding kilometer to P1.75.

LTFRB chairman Winston Ginez warned jeepney drivers to strictly observe the conditions in implementing the minimum fare adjustment.

Under the new fare matrix, 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 the fare.

Operators shall provide an adequate place in jeepneys for the necessary markings to verify the height of children entitled to free or half fare.

Qualified senior citizens, students and persons with disability must be given a 20 percent fare discount.

The LTFRB will issue and distribute copies of the approved fare matrix to all heads of transport groups for distribution to their members, including jeepney operators and drivers. 

At Malacañang, Presidential Communications Operations Office Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. said the LTFRB considered the rights and welfare of commuters, as well as those of the jeepney operators and drivers before deciding to grant the 50-centavo fare increase.

The LTFRB also sought the assistance of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) and the Department of Energy (DOE) in ascertaining the factual basis for a reasonable increase, he added.

Ginez said complaints and reports can be posted in LTFRB’s Facebook page through “LTFRB Citizen Enforcer” or they can tweet the chairman for comments at @LTFRB_CHAIRMAN. “We strongly urge the commuting public to report drivers who fail to conspicuously display the new fare matrix,” or those who over-charge, he said. Ginez said a NEDA analysis showed that the P2 hike would result in an increase in the prices of other commodities in the affected areas. 

“As part of the Board’s authority to regulate transport fare, we considered not only the welfare of the PUJ drivers but of the general public, especially the low- and middle-income classes who will be directly affected the most,” he said.

Transport groups Federation of Jeepney Operators and Drivers Associations in the Philippines and Alliance of Concerned Transport Organizations welcomed the LTFRB decision.

Adopting a formula in computing the fare increase using a cost recovery method and combining it with NEDA’s socioeconomic analysis, the LTFRB found factual basis for a reasonable increase in jeepney fare rates.

As of early this month, the DOE monitored the average diesel pump price based on the lowest retail prices at P43.44/liter, indicating an increase in average diesel pump price of P5.69/liter from 2011 to 2014, the LTFRB said. 

Based on the cost recovery method of computation, jeepney engine fuel consumption is approximately pegged at 6 km/liter and at an average of 10 passengers per trip. 

The calculation shows that an increase of P.379 for the first four kilometers is necessary to allow jeepney drivers to recover the additional expenses in fuel.

Ginez said they used these figures to balance the interests of both the jeepney  operators and drivers and the riding public. 

The calculation validates NEDA’s analysis that a reasonable adjustment in the minimum fare amounts to P0.50, the LTFRB said. – With Aurea Calica