[sustran] Re: Determining MRT fares?

[Roberto Verzola]

 >And DOTC as operator needs to set the fares to make sure that they cover
 >those lease payments they would shell out to MRTC.  If DOTC allows fares to
 >be subsidized, then it would be every Filipino citizen paying for the
 >balance of the convenience experienced by the MRT users, instead of only
 >the users paying the full cost of the service they are getting.
 >

And to think that the Philippine government had no say at all on the
placement of the MRT terminals, though it is the govt (and eventually
the Filipino people) that will carry the risk.

For those who are not familiar with this project (also called LRT
III, which runs along the historic EDSA), some terminals were stupidly
placed nearly *midway* between major road crossing, and will force
riders to walk 600 - 1,000 meters to get their next bus or jeepney
(micro-bus) ride. No other adjective can describe it better, sorry.

According to the ADB itself, no serious transport study was done for
the project (which is why the ADB refused to grant it a loan).

Roberto Verzola

PS. What is a farebox ratio?