Pasig ferry service to provide free rides for a week starting Monday in soft launch

INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—It’s all systems go for an ambitious revival of the Pasig river ferry service, with the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) at the helm.

In a statement, MMDA chair Francis Tolentino announced the start of the service on Monday (Apr. 27), for free for a week, using five boats provided by two private operators.

The “soft launch” will see the reopening of the stations in Guadalupe, Makati and in Pinagbuhatan, Pasig, according to MMDA planning officer Rey Lunas during a briefing of employees at the MMDA headquarters in Makati City on Friday afternoon.

The service, to be open during the commuter peak hours of 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. to 7 p.m., will be plying the route between the two stations. Three boats will be deployed in Guadalupe, two in Pinagbuhatan.

In the following days, the service would include the route from Guadalupe to Escolta in Manila, Lunas said.

Earlier, Tolentino also said the first week might see the reopening of the route from Guadalupe to Plaza Mexico passing through the Polytechnic University of the Philippines in Sta. Mesa, Manila.

The service will be provided by the MMDA for free for a week or two as the private operators are still processing certificates for public conveyance with the Maritime Industry Authority, according to Lunas.

Lunas said that the boats to be used in the first week could seat 28 persons. It will take 30 to 35 minutes to go from Guadalupe to Pinagbuhatan, at a speed of five knots.

The MMDA chief had proposed the revival of the Pasig River system as a means to decongest Metro Manila’s major roads further choked by ongoing infrastructure projects. The Pasig ferry revival is an inter-agency effort by the MMDA, the Department of Transportation and Communication, and the Pasig River Rehabilitation Commission.

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