Free Edsa bus rides set to end on Dec. 31

NO MORE BUDGET Free rides on buses along Edsa will be a thing of the past next year after the Department of Budget and Management rejected the transportation department’s request for a P12-billion funding to sustain the program. —FILE PHOTO

The Department of Transportation (DOTr) announced on Friday that free rides for commuters at the Edsa Busway will be available 24/7 from Dec. 15 to Dec. 31, the last day of the program after the DOTr failed to secure funding to sustain it next year.

Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista said the aim was to serve commuters working at night during the holidays, especially with extended mall hours from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. starting Nov. 14.

The Metro Rail Transit 3 management and the Light Rail Transit Authority earlier said they would not be extending their train operations despite the adjusted mall hours so as not to affect the rail systems’ maintenance schedule.

Bautista said the Libreng Sakay program would no longer continue next year because the Department of Budget and Management had disapproved the DOTr’s request for a P12-billion funding in 2023. For 2022, the government allocated P7 billion for the Libreng Sakay program, with an additional P1.4-billion funding in September to extend its implementation until the end of this year.

Free bus rides are currently available from Monumento in Caloocan City to the Parañaque Integrated Terminal Exchange from 4 a.m. to 11 p.m.

According to the DOTr, ridership on the Edsa Busway hit an all-time high in October, peaking at 404,010 passengers on Oct. 24 and setting a record of 351,531 on average monthly ridership for the first time since the start of its operations in 2020. INQ

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