MMDA to open San Joaquin ferry station today

MANILA, Philippines - The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) will open another Pasig River ferry station in Pasig City today.

MMDA Chairman Francis Tolentino said the new station will be opened in San Joaquin and will be the seventh station for the Pasig River Ferry Service.

Tolentino said the San Joaquin station was repaired and refurbished by the MMDA, in coordination with the Pasig River Rehabilitation Commission and other concerned government agencies. 

Tolentino is confident that with the opening of the San Joaquin station, ridership for the ferry service will peak.

Earlier, MMDA planning officer Rey Lunas said ferry ridership has increased to an average of 200 passengers daily with the opening of the Sta. Ana, Manila ferry station last June 27. The ferry service operates from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. 

Each ferry can carry a maximum of 30 passengers. Ferries pick up and unload passengers from six ferry stations along the Pasig River from Pasig City to Manila.  

Aside from San Joaquin, the ferry service has six other stations: Guadalupe (Makati City), Pinagbuhatan, (Pasig City); Escolta, and PUP Sta. Mesa, Plaza Mexico and Sta. Ana (Manila). Passengers are charged between P30 and P50 depending on the distance traveled.

The MMDA had earlier proposed the revival of the Pasig River system as a means to decongest Metro Manila’s major roads affected by the ongoing 15 road projects across Metro Manila. A similar private ferry service along the Pasig River went out of business in 2011.