Taft Avenue MRT Station is a station on the Manila Metro Rail Transit System Line 3 (MRT-3), and is the line's only station in Pasay. Like all other stations in the line, Taft Avenue is above-ground, although it is the only station that is at grade, lying directly on flat ground. The station is located at the corner of Epifanio de los Santos Avenue, or EDSA, one of Metro Manila's main thoroughfares, and Taft Avenue (this intersection is usually referred to as Pasay Rotonda or Edsa - Taft). The station is named after Taft Avenue, which is named after former U.S. President and U.S. Chief Justice William Howard Taft, who served as Governor-General of the Philippines from 1901 to 1903.

The station is the southern terminus of the MRT-3 and is the first and last station for trains headed to and from North Avenue respectively. Its convenient location has helped create many businesses in the area, from the number of hotels and motels to restaurants and shops, with a good majority of them being a short walk from the station.

Taft Avenue is a major road thoroughfare in Metro Manila. It crosses through three major cities of the capital region: Manila, Pasay and Parañaque. The road was named after the former Governor-General of the Philippines and U.S President, William Howard Taft. The Philippines was a former commonwealth territory of the United States in the first half of the twentieth century.

History

Construction of this avenue, originally called "Calle Rizal", was completed in 1899, with Padre Burgos Street (C-1) as its northern terminus and Calle Herran (now Pedro Gil Street) as its southern terminus. Engineers Manny Aquino and Robin Santos led its extension in 1911, and the avenue was renamed Manila Road. However, a map of Manila produced in 1915 by the Office of Department Engineer, Philippine Department, indicates it was named Taft Avenue. It was extended to Ocampo Street (formerly Vito Cruz Street in 1940, at the height of World War II, during the Japanese occupation of the Philippines. It was further extended to Buendia Avenue (now Gil Puyat Avenue) in 1959 and was named 'Ermita-Pasay Boulevard' or Highway 50, and was further extended to P. Lovina Street or Highway 54 Extension where it ends, with the route continuing as Mexico Road. It was renamed Taft Avenue in 1984 and it also reclaimed Mexico Road. The Manila LRT Line 1, the first elevated rail track in the Philippines, was built over it and opened in that same year.