Beep cards used by Metro Rail Transit (MRT) and Light Rail Transit (LRT) passengers can now be used to pay for point-to-point (P2P) bus rides, the company behind the tap-and-go payment system said Friday.

AF Payments, Inc., a consortium of Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC) and Ayala Corp., said commuters can use the beep card for Froehlich Tours, one of the P2P bus systems in Metro Manila.

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“This covers the routes Trinoma to Glorietta 5 and vice-versa, and SM North EDSA to SM Megamall and vice-versa,” the company said in a statement.

Passengers are charged P55 for the Trinoma-Glorietta 5 route and P40 for the SM North-Megamall route.

“This is the first time that we’re implementing the beep™ system for a premium P2P bus line. We hope that commuters enjoy the convenience using beep™ card and the comfort of Froehlich Tours’ modern bus fleet,” said Peter Maher, president and CEO of AF Payments, Inc.

The use of beep cards was rolled out in October 2015 to allow passengers to use a single card for both the MRT and LRT lines.

READ: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/727979/beep-cards-can-now-be-used-on-mrt-3-lrt-12

The cards, which are reloadable, are supposed to help ease long ticket lines and facilitate faster entry and exit of passengers.

Each card, which remains valid for four years, costs P20. Passengers can buy the card for P100 with an initial load of P80.

Reload elsewhere

The Department of Transportation (DOTr) on Friday reminded commuters to use off-site reloading centers to further lessen the long lines in the MRT and LRT stations.

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Beep cards can be reloaded at Bayad Center and its partner outlets, Tambunting, Villarica, and SM Bills Payment centers.

Next month, passengers will also be allowed to reload over 1,100 Metro Manila branches of 7-Eleven, Mini Stop, and Family Mart.

“The Department is also encouraging the over one million daily train commuters to shift from single journey tickets to stored value cards. As of June 2016, around 45% of passengers are still using single-journey tickets, falling in line at the ticket stations every time they ride the train,” the statement said.

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