KORONADAL CITY (MindaNews / 21 Oct) – The city council here has approved an additional P2 increase in the minimum fares of tricycles plying the city proper and other major routes in the area.
The increase, which set the minimum regular tricycle fare to P10 from the previous P8, was based on an ordinance passed by the council on third and final reading during its regular session on Monday.
City Councilor Oscar Pagunsan, chair of the council’s committee on transportation, said Tuesday the approval of the P2 fare increase came after a series of consultations with various sectors in the city, especially local consumers and transport operators and drivers.
“We deemed it necessary to increase our tricycle fares to allow operators and drivers to cope with the changing socio-economic condition in the area these past years,” he said.
The official specifically cited the increases in the prices of motorcycle spare parts and related inputs as well as fuel.
Under the ordinance, Pagunsan said the new regular tricycle fare was set at P10 and another P2 per additional kilometer for routes within the city proper or the four established zones in the Poblacion area.
The regular fares will cover professionals and other public sectors, except senior citizens, differently-abled persons and students, he said.
He said the new fares for pupils in nursery, day care and kindergarten was set at P5 while those in the elementary level at P7.
But he said pre-school and elementary pupils are exempted from the additional P2 fare per kilometer for extended routes.
The minimum fare for senior citizens, differently-abled persons, high school and college students was set at P8 but they are not exempted from the additional P2 fare per kilometer for extended routes, he said.
Pagunsan, who authored the ordinance, said they have also set fixed fare rates of P12 to P24 per person for specific routes outside the P10 fare zones within the city proper.
These include the fares to the new city hall and the regional center complex that were set at P18 and P24, respectively.
“The fixed rates mainly address the persistent complaints of overcharging from tricycles that usually ply these routes,” he said.
The official cited that some tricycle drivers charge P25 to P30 when conveying passengers from the city proper to the new city hall complex.
He said passengers going to the regional center in Barangay Carpenter Hill are usually charged P30 to P60 each.
Pagunsan said the approved ordinance does not cover fare rates for routes going to outlying barangays in the city.
He said they leave it to the concerned barangay councils to set their own fare rates.
Following the approval of the ordinance, Pagunsan said the council’s secretariat will immediately process its signing by Vice Mayor Eliordo Ogena and City Mayor Peter Miguel.
The mayor is currently on official travel to Germany to finalize the proposed hosting by the city of the International Folkloric Festival in 2015.
He said they will then process its publication in a local newspaper that will be done in three publication dates.
“After that, the ordinance and the new fares will be considered effective,” Pagunsan added.