IN THE NEWS: Colmenares, along with fellow Bayan Muna Rep. Carlos Isagani Zarate, said they would file the fare hike. “As it is, the best way to defer the MRT/LRT fare hike is for the Supreme Court to issue a temporary restraining order against it. The DOTC did not follow due process in this case and no sufficient public hearing was held,” Colmenares said. “We also fear that the P2 billion that the DOTC would be able to save by increasing the fares of the MRT and LRT would just be turned into pork barrel,” he said. Once the fare hike is implemented, a ride on LRT-1, from Baclaran to Roosevelt, will cost P29, while a one-way trip on LRT-2, from Santolan to Recto, will be at P24, the notice said. A trip on MRT-3, from North Avenue to Taft Avenue, will cost P28. Currently, a ride on the MRT ranges from P10 to P15, while a ride on LRT-1 and -2 costs from P12 to P15 and P20, respectively. “Before proposing any increases, the high cost of operations and the large amount of debt incurred by the project should first be investigated, specifically on whether taxpayers are actually subsidizing debt incurred by the private consortium that built the MRT. There is a need for the government to look into the operational costs of the MRT and LRT lines to check if there might be excessive expenses or mismanagement of funds,” Zarate said.
Posted on: Sun, 28 Dec 2014 01:45:10 +0000
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