DOTr raises LRT fares, but Marcos orders deferral

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Transportation (DOTr) has approved the proposed fare hike for the Light Rail Transit Lines 1 (LRT-1) and 2 (LRT-2), but President Marcos ordered the deferral of the increase due to rising inflation.

Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista yesterday said the DOTr permitted the Light Rail Manila Corp. (LRMC) and Light Rail Transit Authority (LRTA) to increase the train rates for LRT-1 and LRT-2, respectively, by P2.29 in boarding fare and P0.21 in distance fare.

However, Marcos ordered the DOTr to reassess how the fare increase will affect the pockets of passengers reeling from spiking costs of goods and services.

Inflation jumped to a 14-year high of 8.7 percent in January, easing to 8.6 percent in February and 7.6 percent in March.

The DOTr was tasked to work with the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) in evaluating the right time to enforce the fare hike.

Bautista said the DOTr may just wait for the academic year to end before implementing the rate increase.

“We will work with the NEDA on this and after that we will report to the LRTA board, so it will take a few months, maybe,” Bautista said.

In an interview with reporters, Transportation Undersecretary Cesar Chavez said the DOTr wants to issue a decision in about two months, but admitted that it will depend on how long discussions with NEDA would last.

Chavez, however, said the LRMC, which operates the LRT-1, and the LRTA, which operates the LRT-2, need fares to go up to raise funds for the rehabilitation and upgrade of the rail lines that they manage.

The Pangilinan-led LRMC is authorized under a concession agreement to increase LRT-1 fares once every two years.

As such, the LRMC filed an arbitration case against the government for denying fare adjustments in 2016, 2018 and 2020, asking at least P2.67 billion in compensation.

On the other hand, the LRTA projects a revenue growth of around P114 million every year from the fare hikes.

The agency wants to use 97 percent of that amount for its operating expenses to reduce its expected deficit of P8.5 billion for the year.

As for the Metro Rail Transit Line 3, the DOTr denied a proposal to raise its fares on technical issues, as the management failed to issue a notice of public hearing in time.

Since 2015, the LRT-1 and LRT-2 have maintained the boarding fare at P11 and distance fare at P1 per kilometer. – Ralph Edwin Villanueva