‘Tap and go’ ticket system rollout starts in May

The Ayala Corp. and Metro Pacific Investments Corp.-led consortium that won the contract to set up a P1.72-billion automatic fare collection system is rolling out its “tap and go” ticketing system for elevated railways in phases starting May this year.

Peter Maher, CEO of AF Payments Inc., said in a briefing Wednesday that the system, which will use a card dubbed the “beep” card, will “go live” for the Light Rail Transit Line 2 by May.

This will be followed by the Metro Rail Transit Line 3 by June and then the LRT-1 by July.

“All three railway lines will fully transition to the new system by September,” Maher said, referring to a deadline given by the Department of Transportation and Communication under the concession agreement.

The beep card, which lasts four years, will cost a one-time fee of P20 and can be loaded with as little as P11 up to a maximum of P10,000.

Maher said the objective was to eventually expand the use of the beep card to include other forms of transportation like buses and taxi cabs and even for small transactions, like buying goods in convenience stores and fast food chains.

“That’s the opportunity and challenge. How to expand the system beyond MRT and LRT in the years to come,” he said.

AF Payments noted, meanwhile, that work was ongoing to replace ticketing infrastructure at the elevated railway lines.

In addition, delivery and installation of new ticket machines have been initiated in keeping with the timely completion of the project in the third quarter of 2015.

AF Payments will supply and install a total of 731 gates, 138 ticket vending machines, 221 point of sale devices and 44 station computers across the three rail lines, it said.

“AF Payments Inc. is excited to bring the technology of a new and integrated ticketing system for LRT and MRT and have our rail commuters realize its real benefits. We are moving forward aggressively with the project that aims to improve the passenger travel experience of Filipinos who ride these lines,” the company said in a separate statement.

AF Payments Inc. said it had taken steps “to ensure that the ongoing improvement works will cause minimal disruption” to commuters.

“We ask for the train ridership’s patience and cooperation as we undertake system upgrade-related work in the rail transit stations. Once the project is complete and the full system transition accomplished, our train passengers can expect ticketing at LRT and MRT to be faster and more convenient,” Maher said.