Discounts to Beep card holders urged

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Transportation (DOTr) is encouraging the operators of the Light Rail Transit (LRT) and Metro Rail Transit Line 3 (MRT-3) to extend fare discounts to Beep card holders to persuade commuters to shift to stored value.

In an interview with “The Chiefs” on Friday night, Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista said that he directed the managements of LRT and MRT-3 to study the possibility of giving discounts to passengers using the Beep card.

Bautista believes that the use of stored value cards in riding the MRT-3 and LRT would reduce the usual long lines of people trying to get inside the train station.

According to Bautista, he asked some of the commuters why they buy the single journey ticket when the stored value card allows them to just pass through the ticketing booth.

He said most of the passengers fear that they might misplace the card and, in turn, lose all of the amount in it.

“The lines (at the MRT-3 and LRT) are long because most of the passengers purchase the one-way ticket. They fall in line because they buy the (single) journey ticket. I inquired why they don’t just buy the stored value to skip the line. They have a number of reasons,” Bautista said in a mix of English and Filipino.

“Most of them fear that they might lose the card and of course its load, but I think it’s a matter of informing the (public of the) benefits of these stored tickets,” he added.

According to Bautista, he ordered the MRT-3 management and the Light Rail Transit Authority (LRTA) to look into the option of extending discounts for passengers using the Beep card.

The Beep card, a product of AF Payments Inc., serves as the stored value ticket in LRT-1, LRT-2 and MRT-3. The company is a consortium between the Ayala Group and the First Pacific Group.

“If the discount is good, some of the commuters told me they may end up purchasing the stored value ticket. I have discussed this with the managements of MRT and LRT and they are thinking of adopting some fare schemes for those who are holding stored tickets,” Bautista said.

At present, fares at the MRT-3 run from P13 to 28. On the other hand, the LRTA, operator of the LRT-2, and the Light Rail Manila Corp., operator of LRT-1, provide discounted prices.

At LRT-1, single journey fares range from P15 to P30, whereas stored value fares go from P12 to P29, while at LRT-2 single journey fares stretch from P15 to P30, but stored value fares span from P12 to P28.

As the transport chief, Bautista received a marching order from President Marcos to raise local transport to world class standards.