DoTr, Toll Regulatory Board, other agencies aim for integration of Luzon expressways
By Patrizia Paola C. Marcelo
THE DEPARTMENT of Transportation (DoTr) and the Toll Regulatory Board (TRB) pursued talks with toll road companies operating 13 expressways in Luzon for the integration of toll collection systems within the month.
The DoTr said in a press statement that the riding public traveling the expressways in Luzon could experience a more seamless travel once the Toll Collection Interoperability Agreement is signed by all concerned stakeholders this month.
Parties to the interoperability agreement include: San Miguel Holdings Corp., Private Infra Development Corp., Skyway O&M Corp., South Luzon Tollways Corp., Vertex Tollways Development, Inc., Star Infrastructure Development Corp., NLEX Corp., Tollway Management Corp., Citra Metro Manila Tollways Corp., Manila Toll Expressway Systems, Inc., Metro Pacific Tollways Corp., Cavitex Infrastructure Corp., PEA Tollway Corp., MPCALA Holdings, Inc., Ayala Corp., and MCX Tollway, Inc.
Other government offices that are part of the agreement are the Department of Public Works and Highways, Land Transportation Office, and the Bases Conversion and Development Authority.
The first phase of the interoperability agreement will cover electronic toll collection, using Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology. The second phase will cover cash collection.
Under the agreement, the toll road companies will be required to appropriately modify their toll collection systems to make them interoperable and integrated. Currently, each toll road company employs its own fare collection scheme for the expressways it operates. This means that motorists who use electronic tags can use tags from one toll road operator in the toll road of another operator, while motorists paying in cash will only need to get a ticket once at entry, and pay once at exit, regardless of which toll road they enter and exit from.
For example, after the completion of the NLEx-SLEx connector roads, a motorist will only have to get a ticket once at an NLEx entry gate, and pay once at an SLEx exit gate.
“Our expressways are managed by different companies. But they have always demonstrated that they are willing to work together and work with the government if that means giving motorists, their customers, a better travel experience. Making our toll systems interoperable will definitely bring a new level of convenience to our motorists, especially during peak seasons,” DoTr Secretary Arthur P. Tugade was quoted as saying in the statement.
