The Manila Light Rail Transit System is the main metropolitan rail system serving the Metro Manila area in the Philippines. The Manila LRT is the first metro system in Southeast Asia, predating the Singapore MRT by three years. The LRT forms part of Metro Manila's rail transportation infrastructure, known as the Strong Republic Transit System, and overall public transport system. Although one of the original purposes of the system was to reduce traffic congestion in the metropolis, many commuters who ride the LRT also take various forms of road-based public transport, such as buses, to reach the intended destination from an LRT station and vice-versa. While this forms a comprehensive transportation system serving many parts of Metro Manila, the system has only been partially successful in cutting traffic congestion and travel times, which is further aggravated by the rising number of motor vehicles in Metro Manila. The system is operated by the Light Rail Transit Authority, a government-owned and controlled corporation under the authority of the Department of Transportation and Communications as an attached agency.

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_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1864: U.S. National Parks: Abraham Lincoln granted Yosemite Valley to California for "public ... recreation". (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_park)

1905: Albert Einstein published the article "On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies" and introduced the theory of special relativity. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Einstein)

1908: The Tunguska impact event occurred in Siberia. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tunguska_event)

1934: Adolf Hitler violently purged his political rivals on the Night of the Long Knives. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_of_the_Long_Knives)

1971: The Soyuz 11 spacecraft depressurised during reentry, killing cosmonauts Vladislav Volkov, Georgi Dobrovolski and Viktor Patsayev. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soyuz_11)

_____________________ Wikiquote of the day:

"Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds. The mediocre mind is incapable of understanding the man who refuses to bow blindly to conventional prejudices and chooses instead to express his opinions courageously and honestly." -- Albert Einstein (http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Albert_Einstein)