PPA sees automated ticketing process for sea travel by 2021

MANILA, Philippines—The Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) wants to roll out automated ticketing in all ports by 2021, streamlining the booking process while preventing cases of overloaded vessels and overpriced tickets.

In a statement on Tuesday (Sept. 22), the PPA said bidding for its Unified Electronic Ticketing System will be held before the end of 2020. This includes the supply of automated ticketing machines.

The system, which will help port users shift online, includes an electronic reservation and ticketing assistant.

While it was planned ahead of the pandemic, its full implementation was expected to cut the spread of SARS Cov2, the virus that causes COVID-19 which is mainly transmitted from human to human.

According to the PPA, the system will also support an integrated vessel booking and payment system for roll-on-roll-off ports.

Passengers can then reserve, book and pay for tickets using desktop computers, smartphones and other mobile devices.

Should passengers have no access online, they can directly buy their tickets using the automated ticket vending machines to be located in all PPA-managed ports nationwide.

According to PPA General Manager Daniel Jay Santiago, the online ticketing system will prevent fixers and scalpers from selling tickets at higher prices as valid government-issued IDs will be required prior to booking.

Moreover, the system will prevent cases of overbooking and overloading, boosting safety.

Seating capacity per vessel in the online system will be based on the authorized number of passengers per vessel approved by the Maritime Industry Authority.

A demonstration and test run of the new ticketing system was made for DOTr officials and members of the media at the Port of Batangas and at the Port of Calapan in Mindoro last Sept. 18, the PPA said.

TSB