The Light Rail Transit Authority (LRTA) has reported a significant decline in revenue for the first six months of the year, due in part to fare discounts imposed during the energy emergency.
According to the LRTA, revenue fell by 24.84% to P481.90 million, reflecting the impact of the discounts. Despite the decline in revenue, the LRTA carried 31.75 million riders in the six months to June, a 15.29% increase from the previous year.
The Department of Transportation had ordered a 50% discount on all LRT-2 and Metro Rail Transit fares in response to the energy emergency declaration. As a result, the LRTA posted a 37.77% decline in gross revenue to P179.82 million in the second quarter, while passenger traffic rose 14.40% to 15.09 million.
The LRTA is projecting fare collections of P1.1 billion for the year, based on ridership of 60.62 million. This would result in an average of 165,624 daily passengers, exceeding the 56.98 million logged in the last full pre-pandemic year of 2019.
The LRTA recently launched a contactless fare payment system for all stations of the LRT-2, allowing commuters to pay using credit cards, QR codes, and NFC-enabled devices.
