‘Beep’ Cards coming to a metro railway near you

Starting later this month, passengers of Metro Manila’s railway systems can enjoy a new single unified ticketing system.

Called ‘Beep’ Cards, this is set to eventually replace all machine-fed cards and will be used as ticketing for Manila’s LRT-1, Aurora Boulevard’s LRT-2, and EDSA’s MRT-3 trains. Tickets are now accessed using Near-Field Communications (NFC) technology, creating beep sounds for every successful tap transaction.

Aside from single-journey tickets which are marked in specific colors — Yellow for MRT-3, Blue for LRT-2, and Green for LRT-1 — there will also be options for stored value cards. Unlike present-day ones where it is fed back to turnstiles once the load has all been used up, beep stored value cards are reloadable and has a maximum shelf life of up to four years, and has a maximum value of Php 10,000. There will also be additional ticketing stations for reloading and purchasing tickets aside from the now-present teller stations.

Currently, final tests are being conducted at LRT 2 stations for implementation and full operation starting later this month. MRT-3 will soon follow after a month after, and the LRT-1 in July. It will then be expanded further into other modes of point-of-sale transactions and transportation segments such as retail shops, taxis, and convenience stores.