By Ashley Erika O. Jose, Reporter

COMMUTERS will likely pay higher fares on the Light Rail Transit Line 1 (LRT-1) by April as the Transportation department is expected to decide on the private operator’s fare adjustment within 30 days.

The Rail Regulatory Unit (RRU) of the Department of Transportation (DoTr) will decide on Light Rail Manila Corp.’s (LRMC) petition within 30 days from the public hearing on Jan. 9, Transportation Assistant Secretary for Railways Jorjette B. Aquino said.

“Based on the published rules and regulations of the RRU, 30 days maximum from the hearing, the RRU should have a decision,” Ms. Aquino told reporters on the sidelines of LRMC’s fare adjustment public hearing on Thursday.

If the RRU decides to accept and grant a fare increase, the petitioner will be required to publish the decision in major newspapers within three consecutive weeks, and the new fare will be implemented within another 30 days from the last publication date of the decision, Ms. Aquino said.

However, Ms. Aquino clarified that if approved, the fare increase might be lower than LRMC’s initial proposal.

“There is a possibility that the fare increase would not be granted, there’s a possibility that their actual petition would be granted, but there’s also a possibility that it would be granted but in a lower amount than they requested,” she said.

LRMC’s request would raise the total fare for an end-to-end trip on the LRT-1 to P60 for a single journey ticket. This is P15 more than the current fare of P45 from FPJ Station (formerly Roosevelt) in Quezon City to Baclaran Station in Pasay, including the last station of the Cavite extension Phase 1.

For users of stored value cards, the maximum fare would go up to P58 from the current P43 for end-to-end trips.

“But if the RRU decides not to accept, there is no fare increase, then it stops there,” Ms. Aquino said.

“In the case of a grant of fare increase for whatever amount…[it will be implemented] more or less two months and three weeks to three and a half months,” she said, noting that this is considering that no parties would challenge the decision or submit a motion for reconsideration.

The current boarding fare at the LRT-1, which was approved in 2023, is P13.29 with a P1.21 increment per kilometer distance.

LRMC President and Chief Executive Officer Enrico R. Benipayo said that while LRMC welcomes the fare adjustment approved in 2023, this is well below the notional fare and has resulted in a fare deficit amount of P2.17 billion.

To justify the fare hike petition, LRMC said in its petition that it has made substantial operational improvements and system upgrades “at a cost of P24 billion” since it took over the LRT-1 in September 2015.

“We committed to perform certain obligations in the concession agreement. The biggest of which really is to make investments to improve the system, obviously to provide better service for the riding community. As we speak today, our total investment hovers around P45 billion,” Mr. Benipayo said.

In a statement, Akbayan Party-list Rep. Percival V. Cendaña urged the DoTr to reject the LRT-1 operator’s proposal for a fare hike, citing that it would only burden the working class and worsen the transportation experience of the public.

“LRMC’s timing couldn’t be more callous. They’re seeking fare hikes that could reach up to P12.50 per ride when 63% of Filipino families are already struggling to make ends meet,” former party-list congressman Ferdinand R. Gaite said in a statement.

Further, urban transport and mobility advocacy group AltMobility PH said mass transit like LRT-1 is vital to public transportation.

“We need our options, including mass transit like LRT-1, to be of good and reliable quality. We need more direct investments in quality public transport,” AltMobility PH said.

It added that operating and maintaining the rail line is capital intensive, “making LRMC’s petition to increase fares overall understandable.”

However, the group said that fare increases must be carefully examined.

“We need low-hanging and short-term solutions such as provisions for active mobility, fare subsidies for those in need, service contracting, and ensuring that public transport workers receive living wages,” said AltMobility PH.

LRMC is the joint venture of Ayala Corp., Metro Pacific Light Rail Corp., and Macquarie Infrastructure Holdings (Philippines) Pte. Ltd.

Metro Pacific Light Rail is a unit of Metro Pacific Investments Corp., which is one of three Philippine subsidiaries of Hong Kong’s First Pacific Co. Ltd., the others being PLDT Inc. and Philex Mining Corp. Hastings Holdings, Inc., a unit of PLDT Beneficial Trust Fund subsidiary MediaQuest Holdings, Inc., maintains interest in BusinessWorld through the Philippine Star Group, which it controls.