Pasig River ferry resumes on Monday

MANILA, Philippines - The Pasig River ferry service will resume operations on Monday (April 28), the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) has announced.

MMDA chairman Francis Tolentino said seven private ferry operators have expressed interest in the Pasig River service but only four firms will be selected by the Metropolitan Manila Council (MMC), composed of the mayors of Metro Manila and is the policy-making arm of the MMDA.

The MMDA said the plan to operate the Pasig River ferry service will be ironed out by Friday.

Tolentino earlier said the Pasig River ferry service is being pushed by the MMDA as an alternate transport system in the face of monstrous traffic jams expected to be generated by the construction of major infrastructure and other road projects across Metro Manila.

According to Tolentino, the fare for the river ferry will be between P25 and P50. The ferries will initially use five of the 11 terminals built by the Pasig River Commission (PRC) along the Pasig River: Pinagbuhatan (Pasig City), Guadalupe (Makati City), Sta. Mesa-PUP, Escolta and Intramuros-Plaza Mexico (Manila).

Each ferry, which will be operated by the private ferry operators, can seat between 25 and 30 passengers, the MMDA said.

Tolentino said the private ferry operators are ready to serve commuters on Monday.

"Ready po sila at nakapasa na po ito doon sa proseso ng MMDA, Department of Transportation and Communication (DOTC) at Pasig River Commission," he said.

The Pasig River ferry service is being supervised by the MMDA, the DOTC, and the Pasig River Commission.

Additional ferry terminals are also being eyed near Carlos Palanca St. in Manila and at Lawton Avenue near the Bonifacio Global City, the MMDA said.

The MMDA said the ferry service will start at 5:30 a.m. and ends at 7:30 p.m.  Tolentino said the three MMDA tugboats which have been converted into “bus ferries” will still be used as back-up ferries should they be needed.

Tolentino said eight ferries will be ferrying passengers along the Pasig River each day.

Tolentino earlier said that at least five private firms had initially taken interest in operating the ferry service, including the Nautical Transport Service Inc. (NTSI) which held the franchise to operate a ferry service from C6 in Pinagbuhatan, Pasig to Intramuros in Manila.

The NTSI charged passengers P70 for an end-to-end trip. However, NTSI's ferry service stopped in 2011 after typhoon “Ondoy” damaged most of the terminals.