MRT, LRT fares going up starting Jan. 4, 2015

Commuters will face fare hikes for the MRT and LRT beginning January 4.

The Transportation Department says, it will implement an P11 base fare, plus additional one peso per kilometer.

That means, an MRT trip from North Avenue to Taft would cost P28 from the current P15.

A single journey LRT-1 trip from Roosevelt to Baclaran would be P30, from P20, while a single journey LRT-2 trip from Recto to Santolan would cost P25-pesos, from P15.

“We’re going to shift to a distance-based system which means that passengers will pay their fare based on distance they traveled. The net effect will be a range of around 12 pesos to about 28, 29 pesos for the longest trips on LRT and MRT,” says DOTC Spokesperson Migs Sagcal

The last time fares for LRT-1 went up was in 2003, while fares for LRT-2 have never been increased since it opened 11 years ago.

Meanwhile, since the MRT-3 opened in 1999, its fares were cut twice.

“We want to improve the services. The current fare structures currently permit enough budget, enough revenues for day-to-day operations of all three lines. While we are increasing the fares and while commuters might not be happy about it, we will deliver on the promise of improvements and the facilities and services,” Sagcal says.

The DOTC says, government is currently funding some improvements in the train systems, including rail replacements for LRT-1 and MRT-3.

Authorities also plan to repair and install new elevators and escalators at the train stations.