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MANILA, Philippines – The tandem of Ayala Corporation and Metro Pacific Investments Corporation (MPIC), which gave the best bid for the single ticketing system for Metro Manila’s train lines, may finally be awarded the project as early as Thursday, January 23.
This after the concerns raised by a disqualified bidder was addressed, according to Transportation Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya.
Abaya said his agency is only awaiting the approval of the Regional Development Council (RDC) of the National Capital Region for the award to push through.
“Once we get RDC approval which is an essential requirement then we can award,” he said, noting the notice of award can be issued as early as Thursday.
AF Consortium of Ayala and MPIC submitted a negative bid of P1,088,103,900 for the Automated Fare Collection System (ACFS) for Light Rail Transit (LRT) 1 and 2 and Metro Rail Transit (MRT) 3, besting the negative bid of the SM group.
A negative bid means the winning proponent will pay the government to operate the project over a 10-year concession period.
The award faced delays after disqualified bidder E-Trans Solutions filed a motion for reconsideration. E-Trans, which failed to hurdle technical evaluation, asked the government to open its financial bid. Under the rules, only the financial bids of those who passed technical evaluation will be opened.
The AFCS is one of the projects the Aquino government is bidding out under the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) program. Launched in 2010, the PPP program aims to create much-needed infrastructure to support the country’s economic growth.
The AFCS will serve as a stored-value train ticket for the LRT and MRT. It is meant to ease the long queues at ticket booths and spare commuters the inconvenience of buying separate tickets for each line.
Eventually, it may also be used to pay for other modes of transportation, like buses and taxi cabs, and as a debit card for electronic banking and shopping purposes.
LRT 1 runs from Baclaran station in Pasay City to Roosevelt station in Quezon City and serves at least half a million passengers daily. LRT 2, serving 350,000 commuters every day, runs across Metro Manila from Recto station in Manila to Santolan station in Pasig City.
MRT 3 line runs along EDSA, with stations from North Avenue in Quezon City to Taft Avenue in Pasay City. It carries around 600,000 passengers daily, almost twice its 350,000 capacity. – Rappler.com
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