DOTr tackles PITX-LRT-1 congestion
LTFRB Acting Chairman Greg Pua Jr. and MMDA Special Operations Group-Strike Force head Gabriel Go join Transportation Secretary Vince Dizon during an inspection of the PITX-LRT-1 station, where the DOTr announced measures to address passenger congestion.
Photo taken by Mico Virata for DAILY TRIBUNE.
The Department of Transportation (DOTr) will add ticket booths and entry gates at the Parañaque Integrated Terminal Exchange (PITX) LRT-1 station to ease long queues and passenger congestion, particularly during morning rush hours.
Transportation Secretary Vince Dizon said the station handles around 27,000 passengers daily, with heavy crowds between 6 a.m. and 8:30 a.m. The department will implement three measures following discussions with the Light Rail Transit Authority (LRTA), the station's consortium and its road and rail teams.
The immediate measure is to open a previously restricted ticket-selling area near the station's bus arrival point. Signages will direct passengers arriving from buses to buy tickets there instead of crowding the existing area inside the mall.
Before Christmas, the DOTr will install four additional ticket booths and four entry gates. This will increase the station's ticket booths from three to seven and its gates from seven to 11.
"We will add four more ticket booths and four more gates. We need to organize the area because passengers buying tickets, exiting and entering trains are all crowding into the same space," Dizon said.
A pedestrian walkway connecting PITX's upper floors directly to the station is also planned for next year. It will allow passengers arriving from the second and third floors to cross over to the train station.
Dizon said the congestion was primarily caused by insufficient ticketing facilities and limited passenger space, rather than a shortage of trains.
The DOTr also plans to increase operating LRT-1 train sets from 29 to around 31 or 32 before Christmas to shorten waiting times.
"Even a little relief in travel time, queues and the difficulties passengers experience would make a difference this Christmas," Dizon said.
Separately, Dizon announced that Gabriel Go, head of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority's Special Operations Group-Strike Force, would be the incoming DOTr assistant secretary. Go's appointment papers have been submitted and are awaiting approval from Malacañang.