By Azer N. Parrocha
MANILA, Sept 24 (PNA) — Applications for special, discounted beep cards for senior citizens and persons with disabilities (PWDs) will be accepted starting Sept. 28, authorities said on Thursday.
With this, the Light Rail Manila Consortium (LRMC), on its official LRT-1 Twitter account, urged senior citizens and PWDs to apply to avail of the 20 percent fare discount.
To recall, LRMC took control of operations and maintenance of the LRT-1 from the LRT Authority (LRTA) since Sept. 12.
LRMC said that the special discounted beep cards will take 10 days to process.
The consortium further said that while applications will be accepted at every station, the special discounted beep cards can only be claimed at major stations namely: Roosevelt, Monumento, Doroteo Jose, Carriedo, Central and Baclaran.
Before the LRT-1, the LRT-2 already opened applications for senior citizens and PWDs last. Aug 19 in all of its stations.
LRTA spokesperson Hernando Cabrera earlier told the Philippines News Agency (PNA) that the special beep cards are no different from ordinary beep cards except for a special chip embedded in the special beep card.
“Physical appearance of the (special) cards are not different from the ordinary cards but the personal data of the senior citizen or PWD is embedded in the chip of the card and will appear in the system,” Cabrera said.
A single journey (SJ) beep card costs PhP20, but it can only be used at the station where it was purchased. On the other hand, a stored value (SV) beep card costs PhP100.
It includes load worth PhP80 and is valid for four years. It can also be reloaded from as low as PhP12 to as high as PhP12,000. (PNA)