Metro Manila (CNN Philippines) — Railway authorities are preparing for the launch of the “tap and go” ticketing system at the southbound lane of LRT Line 1 (LRT-1) on Sunday (August 16).
All the new turnstiles have been installed and tested for readiness by railway authorities.
AF Payments Inc. (AFI), provider of the automated fare collection system (AFCS), assured the public that the turnstiles and ticketing machines will not easily malfunction.
“These equipments are designed for high volume passenger activity and we really need to test them out,” Peter Maher, CEO of AFI, said on Friday (August 14).
The pre-selling of beep cards have also been more thorough. The riding public was advised by the Light Transit Authority (LRTA) to buy the beep cards at the LRT-1 and LRT-2 stations before its formal launch on Sunday.
“Tinatawagan natin yung ating mga pasahero na bumili na sila sa ngayon pa lang, magmula ngayon hanggang bukas kasi nga sa Sunday start na siya so expect na marami ang pipila sa pagbili,” Atty. Hernando Cabrera, LRTA spokesperson, said.
So far, 90,000 beep cards have been purchased at the LRT-2 since it was launched.
Related: Pilot test for ‘tap and go’ system starts at LRT-2
The beep card can be replaced if it becomes defective since it has a warranty of four years.
AFI added that the contactless cards can’t be easily counterfeited as it has sophisticated security features.
“It has one of the most advanced encryption algorithms used in the planet today. The heart of the security here has to do with cryptography and the security of the keys around. So we’re comfortable we haven’t seen any data breaches, any compromises on these products,” Maher said.
The launching of beep cards is expected by the second week of September for the northbound lane of LRT-1.
In the meantime, commuters at the northbound side would still have to use the paper tickets. These, however, have been causing longer lines and waiting time since stored value tickets can’t be used anymore.
Holders of stored value tickets with remaining credits can avail of a cash refunds only until Saturday (August 15).
Transport authorities are eyeing to have the “tap and go” system running at the MRT before September ends.
