LRTA eyes growth in commuter volume

MANILA, Philippines - Administrator Rafael S. Rodriguez said the Light Railway Transit Authority (LRTA) served 221 million riders for the year 2011. “This means keeping off our crowded streets that same number of riders, and thus helped in easing traffic,” the LRTA head pointed out.

In a terminal report to Transportation Secretary Mar Roxas, Rodriguez said the premier state railway firm grossed P3.142 billion, a two percent increase from the year-ago revenue of P3.079 billion.

The outgoing LRTA administrator emphasized that the revenue growth was due to a slight rise of .6 percent in rider volume. “The modest growth,” Rodriguez said, “was due to our rider service orientation, particularly the extension of operating hours.”

Occasionally, during crowd-drawing events, which bring people to the metropolis, Rodriguez enunciated the policy of extending rail service to an additional one to two hours a day.

Lawyer and management expert Rodriguez is bowing out as the managing head of LRTA on March 31 this year, to answer the call for “serving a broader base of our people and adopting social and political advocacies.”

“My initial efforts,” said Rodriguez, who hails from Cavite, is to help “strengthen and unify political alliances in the province drawn together by principled politics rooted in integrity, devotion to service, and excellence in governance.” Rodriguez is currently the secretary general and general counsel of the Liberal Party, Cavite chapter.

The good governance values of integrity, transparency and efficiency were applied by Rodriguez in LRTA during his 18 months stint. “This resulted in organizational strength and operational efficiency in the capital-intensive rail operations.

The computerized system, whose implementation was delayed for six years, was restarted under Rodriguez’s watch. Called “Maximo,” the IT system has already established two modules consisting of suppliers’ data base and spare parts inventory for 10,000 parts. More important, Maximo has established the historical usage of parts leading to a systematic ordering cycle.

Next year, Maximo will be fully operational, and will contribute greatly to speedy processing of information related to procurement and parts inventory management.

In procuring contracts for supply of goods and services, Rodriguez adopted a policy direction in favor of open and competitive bidding for rail and non-rail procurement. This has so far resulted in getting the best service for LRTA and in preserving the integrity of all transactions.

Also, to augment LRTA’s income, Rodriguez introduced an innovation by creating the Non-Rail Business Enterprise Committee, which strengthened the lease-out of all commercial and other spaces of the rail firm. This resulted in a significant increase in non-rail income of P115.3 million in 2011, a 13 percent jump from the 2010 figure of P102.5 million.

Concern for women riders, senior citizens, and the differently abled is now top priority in the LRT. Recently, Rodriguez received a commendation from the Senior Citizens’ Party List for such concern.

Also, the security and safety of riders were also enhanced during Rodriguez’s 18-month watch. Train operators underwent various training programs to establish their psychological, mental and physical abilities. Other key training courses covered rescue programs for elevator emergencies, hostage situations, urban counter revolutionary conflict, etc.