Manila: Dedicated ticket booths for students riding the Light Rail Transit (LRT) and Metro Rail Transit (MRT) will ease their access to fare discounts, Senator Raffy Tulfo said Thursday, following complaints over long lines and tedious verification procedures.
According to Philippines News Agency, the proposal came as the Senate Committee on Public Services received multiple reports from students discouraged by the current system, which they described as 'time-consuming and inconvenient.' Tulfo emphasized that the goal of the student fare discount is to make transportation more accessible to learners and not to create new obstacles for them or other commuters.
Tulfo's team conducted inspections on July 2 and spoke with students who shared difficulties in availing of the discount. Some said they were asked to present printed enrollment forms if their student IDs did not reflect the current school year, while others were required to manually write down their personal details, causing long queues especially during rush hours.
In response, the senator urged the Department of Transportation (DOTr) to set up exclusive booths or lanes for students, separate from those designated for senior citizens, persons with disabilities, and regular passengers. He also pushed for a shift to digital verification to replace manual encoding and reduce congestion at stations.
Tulfo further supported expanding the discount coverage to stored value or beep cards, not just single journey tickets. He recommended that beep card issuers ramp up production and widen distribution through convenience stores and other commercial outlets, adding that the cards often run out of stock at stations by afternoon.
