MMDA Chair Francis Tolentino. FILE PHOTO
Another station of the Pasig River ferry service will open tomorrow in Barangay San Joaquin, Pasig City, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) announced on Saturday.
This brings to seven the number of stations on the ferry route which the MMDA revived in April. The other terminals already in operation are in Pinagbuhatan, also in Pasig; Guadalupe in Makati City; Sta. Ana, Polytechnic University of the Philippines, Escolta and Intramuros, all in Manila.
Since the service was revived, some 36,000 people had taken the ferries as an alternative mode of transport to avoid the perennial traffic jams in the metropolis, according to Emerson Carlos, MMDA assistant general manager for operations.
The ferries operate from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily, with the fares ranging from P30 to P50. At least five boats would pick up passengers at the San Joaquin terminal.
MMDA Chair Francis Tolentino encouraged the public to try the ferries since the “numerous ongoing infrastructure projects of the government in Metro Manila, the port congestion included,” would continue to cause traffic jams in the coming months. Kristine Felisse Mangunay