MANILA — The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) on Wednesday said it expected to fully implement the single ticketing system in the National Capital Region by September.

The MMDA on Wednesday distributed 30 handheld ticketing devices each to five local government units that joined the system’s pilot run, namely San Juan, Parañaque, Muntinlupa, Caloocan and Valenzuela.

The Quezon City government bought its own handheld ticketing devices.

“SIM cards po iyan. Ang ating binibigay na handheld ticketing device ay may kasamang SIM card at dual SIM na may 2-year subscription. So, wala nang babayaran ang LGUs for two years,” MMDA acting chairman Romando Artes told reporters at the MMDA Headquarters in Pasig City on Wednesday.

(The devices we gave had SIMs with 2-year subscription. Our LGUs need not pay anything for 2 years.)

“Dadagdagan pa natin iyan kung ilan ang kailangan ng LGU, depende sa kanilang request… Buong NCR, we expect na with the delivery of the servers, handheld ticketing devices, makakapag-rollout na tayo within this quarter, by September, sa lahat ng LGUs sa NCR,” he assured.

(We will add more, depending on LGU requests. We expect that with the delivery of the servers, handheld ticketing devices, we can roll out the system to all LGUs in NCR by September.)

The MMDA official noted a few minor glitches during the pilot run, particularly in the payment of fines.

“May konting glitches kaming nakita tulad ng bayad centers, 5,000 ang branches o outlets nila nationwide, so hindi pa lahat ng kanilang outlets ay na-adjust na ang penalties, so minsan may konti pang kaguluhan or hindi nagma-match ang penalty under the single ticketing system at ang nandoon sa system ng bayad center. So, ‘yan po ay ina-adjust sa kasalukuyan,” Artes said.

(We saw some glitches, like with the bayad centers, which have 5,00 outlets nationwide. Not all outlets have adjusted their penalties, so sometimes there's a bit of confusion because the penalties in the ticketing system and the bayad centers differ. We are adjusting that.)

“Aside from that, all systems go na tayo sa full implementation ng single ticketing system,” he continued.

The system prescribes a uniform set of fines for motorists caught violating traffic rules in Metro Manila.

The devices have been customized, depending on the rules of each local government, particularly on imposing penalties for the late payment of fines.

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