Castelo to DOTr: Give away free Beep cards to Metro Manila commuters

Quezon City Rep. Precious Hipolito Castelo on Sunday urged the Department of Transportation (DOTr) to give away free Beep or fare cards to tens of thousands of commuters that would give them access to the three mass transit systems in Metro Manila and the carousel buses on Edsa.

She made the appeal in House Resolution 1272 a few days after chaos erupted in bus and light rail transit (LRT) stations when hundreds of passengers protested DOTr’s “No Beep card, No ride” policy.

Aside from carousel buses, the Beep card is used on LRT-1 (Monumento to Pasay via Rizal and Taft avenues), LRT-2 (Marikina to Manila via Cubao, Sta. Mesa and Claro M. Recto) and MRT 3 (Edsa, from North Avenue in Quezon City to Pasay City).

“It is hereby suggested that the Beep cards should be given to commuters for free, and there should be no usage fee charged on top of the pre-paid load,” Castelo said.

She said while the intent to shift to cashless and contactless transactions to minimize health risks is laudable, “the cost of a Beep card, which is P180 (with an initial load of P100), is too much for minimum wage earners who often have only the exact fare for the day for their daily commute.”

Castelo said the P80-cost of the card is a big amount on the part of a daily wage worker.

“It can buy two-three kilos of rice, plus a can or two of sardines,” she added.

Castelo also asked the DOTr not to require commuters to have a maintaining balance on their Beep cards.

“Considering that ordinary Filipinos are still reeling from the economic effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, there should be no hidden charges for the use of Beep cards. Commuters should pay only the actual fare,” she said.

Castelo said providing the cards free of charge and not requiring a minimum balance would ease the financial burden of low-income workers.

“If expressway operators in north and south Luzon could provide radio frequency identification (RFID) cars to motorists for free, the DOTr and its LRT and bus operators should offer the same service free of charge,” she said.

She added that whoever is behind the Beep card project stands to make hundreds of millions. Castelo noted news reports that there are at least seven million Beep cards in circulation.

“At P80 each, that’s a cool P560 million for those behind this scheme,” she said.

Source: Latest Politics News Today (Politics.com.ph)