Cashless toll payments suspension pushed

2 toll operators’ faulty systems blamed for motorists’ woes

Amid long vehicle lines on expressway toll booths, Valenzuela Rep.Wes Gatchalian on Saturday called for the suspension of the cashless toll payment systems in effect since 1 December, until all issues are resolved by their operators.

Chaos, specifically in Valenzuela and nearby areas, are taking place as several toll gates have been unable to read the stickers installed, the congressman said.

“I urge the DoTr ( Department of Transportation) to act swiftly in postponing the implementation of the RFID (radio frequency identification) system,” Gatchalian said.

He said motorists, after their hardship in the long queues for the installation of the RFID stickers, are now “suffering from the horrendous traffic due to inoperable booths and unreadable stickers.”

The lawmaker said the situation can only get worse in the coming holidays with Christmas and New Year’s Eve just weeks away.

“Easytrip has a penetration rate of only 65 percent even with 105 installation sites, which is mindboggling considering Autosweep has only 89 installation stations, yet its penetration rate is at 85 percent,” he said, referring to the two RFID systems in effect.

Gatchalian said it’s essential to suspend operations until both toll operators already have compatible rates.

Easytrip covers the North Luzon Expressway, the Subic- Clark-Tarlac Expressway, Manila-Ca vite Express way, Cavite-Laguna Expressway and the C5 Southlink.

Autosweep is used at the South Luzon Expressway, Star Tollway, Ninoy Aquino International Expressway, the Muntinlupa-Cavite Expressway and the Tarlac-Pangasinan-La Union Expressway.

As of 1 December, Autosweep has already registered around 1.8 million users while Easytrip has 1.6 million stickers installed out of the millions of other vehicles registered in the country.