DOTC mulls common ticket for MRT, LRT

MANILA, Philippines – A contract to operate and maintain a common ticketing system for the light trains in Metro Manila may be up for bidding by mid-2012, the Department of Transportation and Communications Department (DOTC) said.

Transportation Secretary Mar Roxas announced this in a press release on Monday, February 13, even before the bid invites were sent out and accepted by interested parties.

The design-build-operate-and-maintain project is meant to benefit commuters taking the MRT (Metro Rail Transit) and Light Rail Transit (LRT). Currently, commuters have to purchase a different ticket when changing train lines.  

Around 1 million passengers a day take the train lines, which will be renamed as follows:

• MRT-3 – Yellow Line
• LRT-1 – Green Line
• LRT-2 – Blue Line

“This will enable our passengers to easily identify which train line they should take because in the future we envision all lines to be interconnected,” said Roxas.

The common ticketing system concept will likely be patterned after Hong Kong’s Octopus pre-paid and stored value ticket. Since the ticket bears a micro chip, it that could handle e-banking services, including purchasing goods and cellphone load credits at convenience stores.  

“It’s more of a stored value ticket that can be used anywhere. It is not only the ticket manufacturers that can participate in the bidding, even the business community can partner with banks and join the auction,” said Roxas.
 
Roxas, however, said they have yet to conduct a survey on current smart card technology. Only after the study is complete will the project be put out to bid.

He said the DOTC is eyeing to hold the bidding sometime mid-2012.

Roxas said the bidder must partner with local financial institutions, telecom and technology organizations, and retail and department stores where the card can be used to purchase items and services beside train rides.

LRT-1 contract
 
In a briefing Monday, February 13, Roxas announced that the government will put out to bid the design to build-and-operate and the Operations and Maintenance (O&M) of the LRT 1 project in April 2012.
 
“The contract is worth P35 billion because it consists only of the civil works, which excludes the rolling stock,” he said.
 
The LRT line 1 extension project will run from Baclaran all the way to Cavite. It will be a 12-kilometer railway system that aims to serve about 40,000 passengers a day. – Rappler.com