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By Darwin G. Amojelar, Reporter
The Metro Rail Transit Authority (MRTA) on
Thursday said it will extend the peak-hour period at Metro Rail
Transit (MRT) Line 3, with additional trains starting on Monday to
decongest hordes of passengers in the rail system.
The number of passengers has ballooned, as car
owners reeling from high pump prices turn to public transportation
to save on expenses.
Roberto Lastimoso, the Metro Rail’s general
manager, said during an interview that the peak-hour period at MRT 3
will be extended to between 6:30 a.m. and 9:30 a.m. and to between 5
p.m. and 8 p.m. The MRT 3 runs from West Avenue in Quezon City to
Baclaran in Pasay City and back.
At present, the peak hour is between 7 a.m. and
9 a.m. and 5 p.m. and 7 p.m., during which 20 three-car trains leave
every three minutes.
Beyond peak hours, Lastimoso said, the system
uses 15 three-car trains that roll on every five minutes.
He added that Tespi Corp., the maintenance
operator of MRT 3, has granted the request of the government to
extend the peak-hour period and for the operator to deploy
additional trains at no cost.
Lastimoso explained that under the contract of
Tespi, for every additional car used beyond the peak hours, the
government will pay $1,000 per car. “If you need 15 cars, its
$15,000 per hour,” Lastimoso said.
He added that the peak hour per direction at MRT
3 transports 26,500 passengers. “We need an emergency capacity
expansion. The system is only designed to cover about 23,600
passengers per peak hour, but now the demand has ballooned to 26,500
during rush hour.”
Data from the Metro Rail authority showed that
from April to June, the number of passengers rose 11.26 percent to
37.17 million, with a monthly average of 12.39 million and a daily
average of 4,274,260 passengers.
In the first quarter of 2008, the number of
passengers grew by only 2.24 percent to 36.08 million compared to
the 35.29 million during the same period in 2007.
Lastimoso attributed the overloading in the MRT
3 to the soaring fuel costs that drive more people to ride public
transport rather than drive their cars.
“The MRT is still the most convenient, fastest
and cheapest mode of transport in the country,” Lastimoso said. He
added that the government has no plans to raise fares at this time.
The MRT 3 was built to speed up the commute and
alleviate the chronic traffic congestion along Epifanio de los
Santos Avenue, or EDSA. But the current capacity of the system is
inadequate to meet the first goal, let alone the second.
At present, the rail system has a fleet of 73
Czech-made air-conditioned rail cars, of which up to 60 three-car
trains operate daily. The trains run at a maximum speed of 65
kilometers per hour to cover the rail system’s 13 stations in
about 30 minutes, including 25- to 35-second stops in each station.
Army cutback
Like the car owners who are trying to save up by
riding public transportation, the Philippine Army has also gone
car-less.
It will implement soon its car-less program in
all of its camps nationwide in an effort to minimize the consumption
of and maximize available fuel resources without necessarily asking
for additional funds from the government.
It said the program will also promote a healthy
lifestyle that can be achieved through walking or biking inside Army
camps.
The program will be implemented Tuesdays,
Wednesdays and Thursdays inside all major Philippine Army camps and
all personnel will not be allowed to use their vehicles inside the
camps.
Personnel may walk or use other means of
transportation, such as bicycles, that do not require the use of oil
products.
Under the car-less day program, personnel
residing inside the camps will be required to leave their vehicles
at their residence (quarters or barracks). Those residing outside
the camps will be asked to leave their vehicles at an area nearest
the gates.
Visitors, civilians and military, will be
required to leave their vehicles at a designated parking nearest the
gate of a camp during the car-less days.
Only jeepneys plying the camps and emergency
delivery vehicles will be exempted from the car-less days.
-- Jefferson Antiporda
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