Valenzuela City Mayor Rex Gatchalian on Monday served the local government’s suspension order to the North Luzon Expressway (NLEX) over the two-way radio-frequency identification (RFID) mess that caused heavy traffic in the city.
This, as Speaker Lord Allan Velasco appealed to the Department of Transportation (DOTr) to further extend the deadline for installing RFID stickers on vehicles using the tollways until the first quarter of 2021.
“At the rate things are going, I don’t think all 6.1 million registered vehicles in Metro Manila, Central Luzon and CALABARZON will be provided with RFID stickers by Jan. 11, 2021,” Velasco said.
Velasco said the DOTr should also consider that the coronavirus pandemic had constrained many vehicle owners from leaving their homes and applying for RFID stickers.
“It would be more practicable if the deadline is further extended to March 31, 2021 to give all our motorists enough time to secure the stickers for the cashless payment system given that we are still in a pandemic where movement of people is limited,” he said.
Luisito Santos’ report on Super Radyo dzBB said Gatchalian went to the Mindanao Avenue Toll Plaza to serve the order after NLEX failed to meet the 5 p.m. deadline to resolve issues hounding the cashless payment system.
Gatchalian earlier ordered the NLEX management to publicly apologize to those affected by what he called its faulty cashless payment system and to implement a toll holiday until concerns were resolved.
The Valenzuela government also rejected NLEX’s appeal for a 15-day window to solve RFID issues.
NLEX Senior Vice President for Communications Romulo Quimbo said they had sent their response to the Valenzuela government’s order.
Quimbo maintained that toll fee collection fell under the jurisdiction of the national government.
Velasco made the call as tollways experienced gridlock upon the implementation of cashless payment in various expressways last Dec. 1.
This, as a party-list lawmaker asked tollways regulators to rethink the implementation of the cashless toll collection system for motor vehicles which has been causing heavy traffic as well as too much hassle to motorists.
Rep. Alfred Delos Santos of Ang Probinsyano partylist group also said the RFID systems that were supposed to promote contactless transactions and prevent possible transmission of COVID-19 virus had been burdensome for motorists.
Delos Santos, a deputy majority leader, acknowledged the desire of DoTR's Toll Regulatory Board to curb the spread of the virus through face-to-face transactions and so it has implemented cashless toll payments using the RFID system.
“We fully support this policy of the DOTr, especially in its efforts to minimize physical contact in response to the COVID-19 pandemic,” Delos Santos said.
"But many are facing difficulties because of the limitations in physical registration and issues in using the technology," he added.
He also complained of the non-interoperability of the two RFID systems.
As it is, there are two RFID systems operating in expressways: Autosweep and Easytrip.
Autosweep tags are issued by the San Miguel Corp. (SMC) for the Skyway, South Luzon Expressway (SLEx), STAR Tollway, Tarlac–Pangasinan–La Union Expressway (TPLEx), Ninoy Aquino
International Airport Expressway (NAIAx) and the Muntinlupa-Cavite Expressway (MCX), while Easytrip—issued by the Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. (MPTC)—is used in the North Luzon Expressway (NLEx), Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEx), Cavite Expressway (CAVITEx), C5 Southlink and Cavite-Laguna Expressway (CALAX).
However, this setup is creating confusion and is burdensome to motorists, delos Santos said.
“People are willing to abide by the regulation but the problem is the hassle and tedious process of application for it," Delos Santos said.
Delos Santos said it would be better if the two systems were interoperable for their smooth implementation, adding that "this needs a more institutional policy consideration that should be discussed by various stakeholders, including those from different government departments.”
Meanwhile, Velasco shared the observations made by the House Committee on Transportation, which conducted a motu-proprio hearing last Nov. 25 in anticipation of the problems arising from the implementation of the cashless payment scheme at tollways.
Based on its calculation, the committee said it would take more than two years for all vehicles using the tollways to be provided with the RFID stickers.
Transportation Committee chair Samar 1st District Rep. Edgar Sarmiento also noted that Thailand and Indonesia took a year and a half on the average to be fully cashless.
“In comparison, it’s been barely five months from the issuance of the (DOTr’s) Department Order 2020-012 since the implementation of cashless payment,” Sarmiento said.
During the hearing conducted by Sarmiento’s committee, it was also bared that the RFID Reader Equipment Machines of the North Luzon Expressway have yet to be upgraded.
“The concerned agencies should have ensured first the feasibility of going cashless in the amount of time given to vehicle owners,” Velasco said.
He added: “Instead, the implementation on Dec. 1 looked like a dry-run. This defeats the purpose of having our tollways become efficient in going cashless.”
