Minimum jeepney fare hiked to P11 nationwide

The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) on Wednesday announced an increase in the minimum fare for traditional jeepneys to P11.00 across all regions in the country.

In a decision dated June 29, 2022, the LTFRB granted the motion of transport groups 1-UTAK, PASANG MASDA, ALTODAP, ACTO, and several regional transport groups to consolidate their petitions for fare increase into a single petition.

With this, the land transport regulator granted an additional P1.00 provisional fare hike for traditional public utility jeepneys (PUJs) in the National Capital Region (NCR), Regions 3, and 4 on top of the earlier approved P1 provisional fare increase in these regions, which had raised the minimum fare P10.00 for the first four kilometers of travel.

In other regions, the minimum fare increases by P2.00 to P11.00 from P9.00 for the first four kilometers, with no increase in the succeeding kilometers of travel.

The agency also approved to increased the minimum fare for modern PUJs nationwide to P13.00 from the current P12.00.

The order shall take effect on July 1, 2022, according to LTFRB Executive Director Tina Cassion.

“The Board is mindful of the present economic state of every Filipino brought about by the continuous rise in oil prices in the world market and the reeling effects of the COVID-19 pandemic,” the LTFRB said in its decision.

Likewise, the LTFRB ordered jeepney operators and drivers to grant to qualified senior citizens a fare discount of not less than 20% of the approved fare upon the presentation of their senior citizen identification cards.

Students are also entitled to a discount of not less than 20% of the approved fare. The same fare discount applies to disabled persons.

Petitioners have argued that the while the LTFRB approved a P1.00 provisional increase to the minimum fare of PUJs in NCR, Regions 3, and 4, “the cost of diesel was already P81.25 per liter.”

The groups also questioned the implementation of the fare hike in only regions, saying it is “grossly insufficient” and can “hardly be felt” by the sector.

The public land transport regulator earlier shunned granting fare hike petitions and instead preferred direct fuel subsidies and service contracting to mitigate the impact of rising fuel prices on the public transport sector.

The LTFRB has said that in resolving the petitions for fare hike, it has to carefully scrutinize all aspects, especially the inflationary impact it will have on the economy, its effect on the commuters, and the expected domino effect on the price of goods and services. — BM, GMA News