MRT to Increase Fare

Senator Angara said in a Senate committee hearing that he supports the proposal to increase the fare of Metro Rail Transit. If the proposal for the fare increase will push through, then the maximum fare for a ride in MRT will reach up to 44 pesos. This is very high as compared to current maximum MRT fare of 15 pesos.

The proposal was recently being raised because some politicians want the government to reduce its subsidy for the MRT and LRT. Supporters of the MRT fare increase cited that only those who live in Metro Manila benefit from the MRT and LRT while the subsidy for the two rail systems comes from the national budget.

Regular passengers of the MRT disapprove of the proposed fare hike because it will make their travel in the MRT too expensive. Hundreds of passengers ride the MRT daily and most of the passengers are office workers and students. It is expected that the number of passengers will go down if the proposed fare hike pushes through.

The pros and cons of this issue raised valid points and the administrator of the LRT and MRT, as well as the Senators must study the fare hike proposal seriously. The government must understand that the rail system was developed for public service and not for profit. Majority of rail systems around the world have low or zero profit because it is focused more in servicing the public.

The goal of developing a rail system in Metro Manila is to decongest the streets and pave the way for a better and environment-friendly mean of mass transportation. The current mass transportation system is chaotic and dumps large amounts of pollutants every day. The decision to raise the MRT fare or not will definitely impact on the development of the rail system and in building a better mass transportation for the country.