The MRT Experiment

This morning, my wife is going with our daughter to the school field trip to a train station. The first thought was, well, PANIC! I used to squeeze myself in the moving sardine can twice a day, 5 days a week, to get to and from work. As if work was not stressful enough. And as if it makes things better, she said they are not taking the blue one on EDSA.

When I worked in Pasay and Makati, I bought an MRT card preloaded with 200 pesos to avoid lining up everyday. Some good that did. I had to reload every week! Which meant I still had to line up to get my card loaded. Konting tiis lang yan, my wife used to tell me. Well, she finally found out just how konti a person's tiis can be at the MRT at rush hour. For 2 days this week, she took the MRT to Makati to attend a seminar because she didn't want to pay for parking. Had the seminar taken longer than 2 days, I suspect she would have paid even double parking rates than line up (be pushed) for 15 minutes to get a ticket. Then line up (be pushed) for another 5 minutes to get to the entry gate.

If the MRT does raise fares, I hope some of it could go to upgrading the ticket system. I mean, 15 minutes at the shortest line is still 15 minutes wasted. And my wife's comment is so obvious, I wonder if it is too simple or too complicated to implement. She wondered if the prepaid MRT cards could be reloaded through the internet. Or at least at transaction points other than at the station. She compared it with the EC Tag of the NLEX.

If only we could send ourselves through the internet. Until that day comes, I'll settle with having things facilitated by the net.


Christopher John P. Lao
Entry No. 15