Free Train Rides For Students Limited To LRT-2

President Marcos has limited the free ride for students program to just the Light Rail Transit Line 2 (LRT-2), as the government can no longer afford to lose revenues to sustain its transport units.

Transportation Undersecretary Cesar Chavez said on Wednesday, July 13, the Department of Transportation (DOTr) received an order from the President to offer free rides for students on LRT-2 only.

Chavez added that Marcos removed the Metro Rail Transit Line 3 (MRT-3) and the Philippine National Railways (PNR) from the program because the government will incur losses that can be used for rail maintenance.

“The President arrived at the decision to offer free rides for students just at the LRT-2. Based on our records, we lost P515.9 million from the three months of Libreng Sakay at MRT-3,” Chavez told The Philippine STAR.

He added that the DOTr projects a student ridership of only 1,400 every day at the MRT-3, compared with more than 4,500 at the LRT-2 using pre-pandemic figures. As such, Marcos found it reasonable to focus the free ride service on the LRT-2, especially as it traverses the university belt.

On the other hand, the transport official said the government already pays for some 80 percent of the rail fare collected from PNR passengers.

It costs the PNR up to P362 to transport a commuter from Tutuban to Calamba, but it only charges P60 for the route that spans nearly 60 kilometers, according to Chavez.

“The daily passenger count at the PNR reaches as high as 80,000 before the pandemic. Right now, the rail line just services more or less 25,000 per day. Given this, we want to allow PNR to recover the revenues it lost to the pandemic,” he said.

As an alternative, Marcos ordered the DOTr to study how the rail line managers can grant fare discounts to students. In particular, they were instructed to find a way how station turnstiles can identify Beep cards owned by students to apply the 20 percent discount mandated by law.

“In the long run, the President directed us to slowly phase out the free rides at all the rail lines. In exchange, he wants us to give out train discounts for students, especially as the law re-quires us to,” Chavez said.

Data obtained by The STAR showed that the government lost P515.91 million in revenues from the MRT-3’s Libreng Sakay, although nearly 29 million passengers benefitted from the program during its run from March 28 to June 30.

Upon assuming power, Marcos approved the DOTr’s proposal to grant free ride for students at the MRT-3, LRT-2 and PNR in support of the resumption of in-person classes on Aug. 22.

‘Concerns’

Meanwhile, Camarines Sur 2nd District Rep. LRay Villafuerte asked the DOTr and Department of Budget and Management (DBM) to work together to raise funds for the government’s Libreng Sakay program.

In a statement, Villafuerte said the continuation of the program should be the “concerns” of DOTr and DBM, especially since one of Marcos’ first official acts was the continuation of the program until at least the end of the year.

“Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista should exert his very best effort in making sure that Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman is able to source or realign at least P1.4 billion in public funds to bankroll Libreng Sakay till the yearend, in keeping with President Marcos’ July 1 directive,” Villafuerte added.

The lawmaker made the statement after Bautista revealed that the DOTr would seek an additional outlay of P1.4 billion as the agency has no available funds in its 2022 budget to continue with Libreng Sakay until end of December.

The continuity of the program is important amid the rising prices of commodities and services, including transportation fares, according to Villafuerte.

He underscored that the “very least” that the administration can do for the poor and low-income commuters in the National Capital Region is to increase the budget for the free ride pro-gram.

He also appealed to the government to speed up the release of the approved P1,000 fuel subsidy for the over 600,000 qualified tricycle driver-beneficiaries as listed by the Department of the Interior and Local Government.

At the same time, he renewed his appeal for the DOTr to include senior citizens, persons with disability and solo parents among the beneficiaries of the free rides in the MRT-3, LRT lines and PNR.

More routes

In another development, the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) is studying proposals to add more routes for public utility jeepneys and buses in time for the full implementation of face-to-face classes this coming school year.

The LTFRB said additional routes for public utility vehicles is among the agenda to be tackled in the next inter-agency meeting.

LTFRB chairperson Cheloy Garafil has committed to improving the EDSA Carousel, which was recently extended for free bus rides until December by the new administration.

Garafil noted that they are aware of the delay in the payouts to concerned operators under the service contracting project of the board.

“On the part of the LTFRB, we are mindful of the delay in the payout to the consortia due to sheer volume of work from the just concluded nationwide service contracting project. We, nonetheless, commit to fast track the payouts in order not to further burden our partner operators and drivers,” she said.

She added that riding the EDSA Carousel earlier this week was an “eye-opening experience” and instilled the value of order and discipline in following traffic guidelines for those in the transport sector.

“It has eliminated the chaos of elbowing all others just to get a ride especially during rush hours. What I saw were people respecting the lines and giving way to privileged sectors such as senior citizens, PWD (persons with disabilities) and pregnant commuters when necessary,” she said. – With Sheila Crisostomo, Romina Cabrera