NOW that all three of Metro Manila’s railway systems have migrated from the traditional magnetic ticketing scheme to the tap-and-go setup, the private company behind the technology is searching for more ways to improve customer experience and raise product efficiency.
Peter Maher, president and chief executive of AF Payments Inc., said his company has deployed a technical and operations team to review the public’s feedback on the automated fare-collection system.
“Our technical and operations team will now focus on ensuring that feedback from the train operators and the riding public are being consolidated, reviewed and assessed to see how the company can further improve the system,” he said.
Saturday marked the completion of the rollout of the automated fare-collection system at all of the country’s elevated train lines, with the last one being the 16-year-old Metro Rail Transit (MRT) Line 3, the most congested railway system in Metro Manila.
“One of the objectives of the unified automated fare-collection system, when it was envisioned by the transport department, was to provide a seamless transfer from one line to another. We are pleased to say that commuters can now enjoy this convenience. We hope that the beep card’s interoperability feature will offer some improvement to the overall commuting experience of the Filipino,” Maher said.
Today, more than 500,000 beep cards have been sold to train riders since the system was placed earlier last quarter.
“We will continue to work hard to ensure that all the equipment, from the gates to the ticket vending machines and the point-of-sale computers, are well maintained,” Maher noted. He added that his company will now start negotiating with retailers to make the payment scheme a new option for consumers.
“As part of our commitment to provide a new payment option for the Filipino on the go, AF Payments Inc. is also working on new partnerships with key retailers. Riders can expect to see new loading and acceptance points outside the stations in the coming months,” Maher said.
Metro Pacific Investments Corp. and Ayala Corp., are lead proponents of AF Payments. Together, they have invested P3 billion to rollout the system.