THE Department of Transportation (DOTr) has extended the offering of free rides at the MRT-3 up to May 30, 2022.
The deadline for free rides at the MRT-3 is supposed to be up to April 30, which was implemented last March 28, 2022.
In an announcement, the MRT-3 management said the objective of the free rides extension is to continue to help the public to alleviate their sufferings brought about by the continuous increase in the prices of petroleum products.
“To continue providing assistance to the riding public in their commuting needs, the MRT3 Management and the DOTr have decided to extend for another month the implementation of the free ride or libreng sakay program in MRT-3,” ayon sa DOTr.
On the other hand,MRT-3 OIC General Manager and Director for Operations Michael Capati said the volume of MRT-3 riders increased after the implementation of the free ride program.
This way, he said, they can test the capacity of the MRT-3 trains, particularly those that underwent rehabilitation.
“We saw a definite increase in our ridership when we implemented the free ride on MRT-3. So it was also productive on our part because we were able to test the capacity and performance of our fully rehabilitated railway system,” says Capati.
The DOTr said that as of April 26, commuters that benefited from the free ride program already reached an overall 7,227,434 passengers.