DESPITE the successive rollbacks on oil prices, more commuters are still patronizing the country's mass transit system, the Light Rail Transit Authority (LRTA) said Saturday.
LRTA administrator Melquiades Robles said the number of commuters riding the LRT trains continued to increase in the past days.
Records showed that a total of 508,220 passengers rode the trains of LRT-Line 1 (Baclaran-Monumento system) on October 3, 2008, making it the highest number recorded for a single day since January 1998.
According to Robles, the number is already nearing the all-time high single day ridership of 542,605 passengers in December 1996.
"At the end of the year we are hoping that we can set a new all-time high record for Line 1," he said.
LRT-Line 2 (Recto-Santolan system) also set a new record of 223,481 passengers on September 5, the highest so far since its first commercial operation in 2003.
Earlier, the LRTA announced the extension of revenue hours of both Lines 1 and 2 from 9:30 to 11 p.m. upon the directive of Malacañang.
Despite the high cost on the maintenance and operation of its line systems, Robles assured the public there will be no fare increase.
"The President (Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo) does not want any fare increase for the LRT as it is the only affordable transportation in the country now, with a maximum fare of P15 for Line 1 and P14 for Line 2," Robles said.
He likewise said that the system can still absorb additional passengers
Sixteen coaches run on Line 2 and can carry up to 730,240 passengers daily. On July 4, that line carried 219,995 passengers - the highest since the start of commercial operations in 2003.
Line 1 has 139 coaches that can be configured into three- or four-car train combinations depending on passengers' demand.
"It (Line 1) can carry as much as 1,309,680 passengers per day or 38,520 persons per hour per direction," Robles said.
"Even if our ridership for all line systems will increase by 50 percent, we can still absorb the additional passengers," he added. (AH/Sunnex)
