[sustran] Determining MRT fares?

[Ramon Fernan III]

Like Bangkok, Metro Manila will begin operations of its newest Metro 
rail line on Dec. 15. This is the second metro rail in the area and 
has been given the fancy name of Metro Star Express. As with the 
Skytrain, there has been debate about what fare to charge. It's a BOT 
project so the builder wanted to charge Php 44 (Php 40.8/US$1) from 
Quezon City where it starts to Makati where it currently ends. It is 
not clear whether fares would be distance based although there is 
talk to that effect. Anyway, the operator said that they needed to 
charge this much in order to get economic returns although malls are 
being built at the major stops from which the operator will earn 
income (in fact, at its inception, the malls were included precisely 
so that fares could be kept low and the operator could recoup its 
investment from their operation rather than the fare). The current 
LRT in Manila charges a flat fare of Php 10 but the gov't claims it 
is subsidizing riders at the rate of Php 60 each!

There was supposed to be a public hearing held by the gov't (DOTC) on 
the issue of the fare and apparently there was public clamor to make 
it affordable to working people (who earn a mandated minimum of about 
Php 195/day). The DOTC Secretary then went ahead and endorsed the 
Metro Rail operator's fare structure anyway. (So much for 
public hearings.) However, President Estrada has ordered the 
fare lowered to Php34 for the full distance "for an experimental 
period."

For comparison's sake, an aircon bus charges about Php 20 for the 
full distance although one has to sit in traffic. Taxi fare is about 
Php 100. So, how do these things get decided anyway? What's a fair 
fare? Isn't it true that metro rail fares everywhere are subsidized? 


Ramon Fernan III