11 June 2013
The Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) is set to conduct a Pre-bid Conference for the Automated Fare Collection System (AFCS) Project today, 11 June 2013, from 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM at the DOTC Office in Mandaluyong City.
Last 8 May 2013, DOTC announced that it had pre-qualified five groups for the AFCS project. The pre-qualified bidders for the project are AF Consortium, led by the Metro Pacific and Ayala groups; Comworks Consortium, which includes Taiwan’s Kaohsiung Rapid Transit Corp.; E-Trans Solutions Joint Venture, Inc. Consortium, which includes Eastwest Banking Corp.; Megawide-Suyen-Eurolink Consortium, which will tap the experience of Singapore’s EZ-Link Pte. Ltd.; and SM Consortium, led by several companies of the Sy family.
The DOTC is also set to hold the first round of one-on-one sessions with the project’s pre-qualified bidders from 13 to 14 June 2013.
The AFCS project will modernize and improve the overall passenger experience at the LRT and MRT Systems. Passengers will no longer have to spend so much time lining up just to buy tickets. They will also be able to seamlessly transfer from one line to another.
The project involves the decommissioning of the old-magnetic-based ticketing system and replacing the same with contactless-based smart card technology on LRT Line 1 and 2 and MRT Line 3. It will introduce a smart card-based technology similar to the Octopus card system in Hong Kong, to make the travel for train commuters more convenient and efficient. The private sector will operate and maintain the fare collection system for a concession period of 10 years.
DOTC’s AFCS project is a recipient of the Project Development and Monitoring Facility (PDMF) managed by the PPP Center. Under the PDMF, the DOTC was given funding support in terms of procuring transaction advisors to provide technical assistance in the bid process management including the preparation of bid documents and contracts and assistance until financial close.
XXX
