MANILA, Philippines – The fare hikes for the Light Rail Transit’s Lines 1 (LRT1) and 2 (LRT2) are set to take effect on August 2, the Department of Transportation (DOTr) said, pointing to declining inflation and improving employment rates.

“Noong June 6, nag-announce po si Presidente na nag-improve na ang ating inflation rate. Bumaba ito from 6.6% to 6.1% at ang employment rate natin ay tumataas na rin. Doon po nag-base ang desisyon na ituloy na ang fare adjustment,” Assistant Secretary for Railways Jorjette Aquino said in a press conference on Monday, June 19.

(Last June 6, the President announced that our inflation rate improved. It went down from 6.6% to 6.1%, and our employment rate went up. These were the bases for the decision to continue with the fare adjustment.) 

Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista approved the implementation of the fare hike after a meeting in Malacañang on June 6 during which President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. highlighted positive economic figures. 

“Our headline inflation rate has gone down from the former 6.6% to 6.1% and our employment figures are also improving,” President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said.

The DOTr’s Rail Regulatory Unit had previously announced the approval of the rate hike on April 11. However, Marcos ordered for the implementation of the fare hike to be deferred while determining the “impact of inflation.”

Here are the minimum and maximum fares for the LRT1 under the new scheme:

Meanwhile, these are the new fares for the LRT2:

For both the LRT1 and LRT2, the boarding fare will be increased by P2.29, from P11 to P13.29. The distance fares will also go up by P0.21, from P1 per kilometer traveled to P1.221 per kilometer traveled.

Aquino said the fare adjustment would allow the LRT1 and LRT2 to enhance its services and technical capabilities. Railway operators argued that the hike would help them cope with their ballooning deficits. The Light Rail Transit Authority (LRTA) incurred a P7.6 billion deficit in 2022 and estimated that it could incur as much as P8.5 billion in deficits in 2023. 

Under the previous fare scheme, the government subsidized P148 per passenger per end-to-end trips on the LRT2. For passengers on the MRT3, the government shouldered P85 per end-to-end trip.

“Napatagal nang panahon ‘yung last increase natin, at alam naman natin that the whole time, tumaas na ‘yung presyo ng lahat – ‘yung pamasahe na lang sa LRT ang hindi tumataas,” said LRTA administrator Hernando Cabrera during the press conference.

“Nararapat na ngayon ay mabawasan man lang ng kahit konti ‘yung subsidy na binibigay ng gobyerno.”

(It’s been a long time since we last increased fares, and we know that prices of everything have increased – except for the fares of the LRT. It’s time that the subsidy that the government provides is decreased, even by a little bit.)

With the fare hikes, the LRTA will now be allocating P110 million of the projected P114 million added rail revenues for maintenance, operating expenses, and repairs, according to Aquino.

The fare adjustments will be published in newspapers of general circulation on June 19, June 26, and July 3 before being implemented 30 days later, on August 2. 

FAST FACTS: Why the LRT1, LRT2, MRT are proposing fare hikes

– Rappler.com