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45M commuters served by MRT-3 in 2021

January 24, 2022 Jun I. Legaspi 460 views

THE Metro Rail Transit-3 (MRT-3) served a total of 45,675,884 commuters in 2021, recording an average daily ridership of 136,935 for that year.

The MRT-3 served 4.1 million commuters for both January and February of 2021, and a ridership just shy of 4 million in March at 3.9 million. A drop in monthly ridership was recorded in April at 2.2 million as Metro Manila was placed under Modified Enhanced Community Quarantine (MECQ). Ridership bounced back in May with 3.5 million commuters.

The increase in ridership continued in June and July, at 3.7 million and 4.2 million, respectively, as Metro Manila eased to General Community Quarantine (GCQ) with restrictions beginning June 16 and to GCQ status on July 15.

Ridership reached 2.9 million in August, which coincided with the August 6 declaration of the Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) in Metro Manila as an uptick in COVID-19 cases was recorded.

For the remaining months of 2021, there was a steady increase in MRT-3 ridership, as Metro Manila gradually eased to a more relaxed community quarantine and alert level status. MRT-3 recorded a ridership of 3.3 million in September, 3.9 million in October, 4.4 million in November, and the highest one for the year at 5.5 million in December. It may be recalled that MRT-3 also increased its train capacity from 30% (372 passengers in a train set) to 70% (827 passengers in a train set) starting November 4.

MRT-3 OIC-General Manager Asec. Eymard Eje said the strong MRT-3 ridership in 2021 serves as a testament to the improved reliability of the rail line especially in the time of the pandemic.

“Hindi po nawala ang MRT-3 sa buong taon ng 2021 upang magbigay-serbisyo sa ating mga kababayan sa kabila ng pandemya. The continued patronage of our riding public is a testament to how MRT-3 has really transformed from a defective to a reliable, fast, and efficient public transportation that it is now,” said Asec. Eje.

Meanwhile, MRT-3 Director for Operations Michael Capati said crucial to the improved reliability of the MRT-3 was the completion of its massive rehabilitation in the same year. Among these is the reduction in travel time between the North Avenue Station and the Taft Avenue Station from 1 hour and 15 minutes pre-pandemic to the present 50 minutes.

“Sa taong 2021, naramdaman ng mga pasahero ang mga pagbabagong hatid ng rehabilitasyon ng MRT-3, kung saan naibaba natin ang travel time, at naitaas din ang bilang ng mga napapatakbong tren sa mainline, mula 10-15 noon tungong 17-22 ngayon. All the while na-maintain natin yung strict compliance sa COVID-19 health and safety protocols para sa kaligtasan ng mga pasahero,” said Dir. Capati.

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