The MRT Fare Hike headed by the Department of Trade and Commerce headed by the recently appointed secretary Joseph Abaya is the plan of the government to increase the MRT fare price by 10 Pesos. This means that The current average fare of P20 will be increased to P30.
DOTC explained why they needed the Fare hike is because the current revenues received with advertisements and ticket fares is not enough for the maintenance, additional cost and funds needed for the expansion of the MRT. Because of lack of revenues, the government has been subsidizing the MRT as long as it opened. Presently, average yearly subsidies is worth 7 Billion pesos.
The Other Side of the Coin
Why I support the Fare Hike Increase
Subsidized by the whole country even those that that does not benefit from it directly. The MRT-3 is subsidized by the whole country and not only the regions it is located. This means that people in Mindanao is paying for your low fare prices even though they are not benefiting from it.
Subsidizing projects is really not the way to go. The money spent subsidizing the MRT could be used for other projects like in education or infrastructure. Money is not unlimited and with subsidies, we are just burying ourselves with debt. If you look at some western country's MRT like system, they are solely run by ticket prices and other revenues, that they became self-sufficient. Not needing the government to help them with the cost as well as improvement of service.
More Convenient but still cheaper than using a bus. Even with the fare increase, using the MRT is more convenient, faster and cheaper than using a bus. This will be even cheaper with the forecasted oil price increase that affects jeepney and bus fares.
It will eventually be solely owned by the Philippines. After the private companies has gotten their "profits", the MRT will be sufficient enough that I believe there will be a surplus of fund that can be used to expant the MRT or even give free rides for some sectors in our country.
