A Quezon City councilor has filed a resolution urging the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) to restore the fare discounts on public transport for college and high school students on Saturdays and Sundays.

Councilor Alexis Grace R. Matias, president of the city’s Sangguniang Kabataan Federation, said in her resolution that reimposing the 20-percent fare discount would ease the financial strain on the families of students attending weekend classes.

Matias noted that poor city residents continue to struggle financially.

She also noted that the government has continuously granted special privileges to the transport sector, making it not much of a loss for them to bear the 20-percent weekend fare discounts to students.

She also asked public transport leaders to police their own ranks once the proposed resolution is approved, urging them to “exercise their sense of patriotism’’ in this time of crisis.

She said concerned authorities must run after errant tricycle drivers and operators who fail to grant the 20-percent fare discounts to students, disabled persons, and senior citizens.

She noted that her office has received a growing number of complaints on the refusal of tricycle drivers to give concerned parties their special fare privilege.

She said she would ask the Tricycle Regulatory Unit (TRU) to send its undercover teams in collaring discourteous, dishonest, and abusive tricycle drivers in the city.

Earlier, the Quezon City Council approved the fare rollback on tricycles in the locality in the wake of the decrease of oil prices in the world market.

Matias said the approval of ordinance F-0-08-179 would ease the burden of local residents.

Once the resolution is approved, tricycle drivers and operators may MAHILUMcharge P7 for the first kilometer and fifty centavos for every succeeding kilometer for regular trips while P14 will now be charged for the initial kilometer and another fifty centavos for every kilometer in excess for special trips.

She noted that the approved fare rollback on tricycles also calls for the 20-percent discount for students, disabled persons and senior citizens, saying that the city government had already released the fare matrix to the tricycle operators to prevent arguments and disputes concerning fares.

For special trips, Matias said the students, disabled persons and the senior citizens should pay the discounted fare of P11.20 for the first kilometer and P40 for the every succeeding kilometer.