Friday, August 22, 2008

Juan Card








MRT and LRT are transportation modes currently taking all the spotlights (and not traffic lights) these days as gasoline prices are still unstable. MRT for an instant has been reportedly receiving 28, 000 traffic of passengers during rush hours. (5:30 AM to 7:30 AM and 7:30 PM to 9:00 PM) With this kind of happening, one can’t avoid some slight glitch in their travel. True, robbers can always take advantage of the “stiff” situation. Another thing, sleaze bags can always take the opportunity to finally get a closer “contact” with their long time MRT mate crush.

Well, now some Juan dela Cruz can save the frowning faces and high levels of commuter stress. Department of Transportation and Communications in partnership with Metrostar Express, brings the “Juan Card”. Okay, let me try to explain this technology in a very “idiot guide” manner. With this system, four elements shall work together: your cell phone, MRT Juan Card Wallets, EXIO machines and of course the MRT.

A commuter would have to send a text message before riding the train. The commuter will then receive a bar code pass for EXIO machine to read. The barcode will serve as the entry pass to the train. Now, fares will propel to a little difference of three percent from a normal MRT card. The networks shall also charge PHP 2.50 for every text sent in the Juan card system. Fares can be deducted from the E-wallet which comes with a prepaid card that can be acquired in MRT stations and some mall booths.

Now, this system is still under stiff studies and experimental observations. More information shall be divulged after the system has been concreted. This can possibly means lower fares and text rates on the system. I have to say that this is quite a clever idea to reduce queues in stations. We all know that almost everyone in our country owns a mobile phone so there are high hopes for the efficacy of this Juan card.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

cool.. brilliant idea..
i just hope it will work efficiently without any hassle or any technical problems in this Juan Card..
if this works well it will be a very very big ease for us, commuters..

Joaqui said...

This is a great idea actually. I still just don't get it why some people still opted to buy tickets per trip instead of the stored value one.

wanderingcommuter said...

i am officially an avid train rider for both mrt and lrt purple lane... kailan ilalabas ito? or paano mag aavail?

Admin said...

Nice idea...

Wala kasi sa linya ng LRT MRT ang pasok ko e.. Hehe :) FX ako..

pusangkalye said...

It really is a good idea because in as much as the MRT and LRT lines could provide conviniece, it really is for me a BIG headache on several occasions. I agree, the queue is the most irritating part so I hope this system could help solve the problem. Have you tried it Denis?

...Maybe I will try it after a few months when the technology is no longer in it's trial and error stage.

pusangkalye said...

A former student of mine, who is KOREAN and who lived here in the Philippines for 1 year was so shocked when she experienced staying in the line. She said it was too long and she thought the reason was because the ones inside the ticket booths are jotting the names of the passengers. What a crazy idea. But you can't help but feel the same sometimes......

KRIS JASPER said...

i wish for that to work

we have been using that idea for some time now, mostly with trains.

lucas said...

wow..ang galing.. very ingenious... sa maging effective... alam mo naman ang mga pinoy..hays...my friend would be delighted to know this...

Anonymous said...

Filipinos are very creative and good at invention.. I hope technology can bring ease to the difficult way Filipinos experience in their everyday lives.. I hope we can have things like Hong Kong's Octopus card -- cash card where you can use in MTR, Bus, Taxi, fastfood, 711, etc.. Pretty much like the Juan Dela Cruz card but covers not only transportation but also basic needs.. Also, sana isang card nalang for all three lines we have, para mas convenient.