Frankly, people don’t need an expressway over the Pasig River to use it as a means of getting around. Remember, the Pasig River Ferry Service is still a thing.
Earlier this month, Department of Transportation (DOTr) head Jaime Bautista even called upgrading the ferry service one of the agency’s “priority projects,” albeit one still awaiting approval from the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA).
Why the sudden interest in improving the service? Perhaps because ridership is way up compared to 2021.
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Data shared by the Pasig River Ferry Service show that more and more commuters are using the water-based transport alternative over the past several months. Ridership peaked with 16,226 users in September 2022—nowhere close to what rail lines or bus lines are getting, but a drastic step up compared to the 2,806 users in the same period last year.
From January to September this year, a total of 113,609 passengers have been ferried by the service. Last year? Over the same period, only 30,310 passengers were recorded.
The improvement is definitely promising. What do you figure it would take to make the Pasig River Ferry Service at least as close to viable as some of its land-based counterparts? Chime in.
