The tollways unit of Metro Pacific Investment Corp. has submitted a comprehensive roadmap for the full migration to contactless payment of all its tollroad systems this year as well as their interoperability with other expressway operators.
Luigi Bautista, NLEX Corp. president, said the roadmap submitted last May 26 to the Department of Transportation and the Department of Public Works and Highway involves three phases that will be completed in two to three years.
At present, only 30 to 35 percent of commuters are using radio frequency identification (RFID) on its tollroads. The first phase of the roadmap targets 100 percent use of RFID on all its tollways system in the next five to six months.
MPTC operates and maintains 223 kilometers of expressway across major tollroad systems: the North Luzon Expressway, Subic- Clark —Tarlac Expressway, Cavite Expressway and Cavite-Laguna Expressway.
Phase two would be the interoperability in the next 12 months of these systems with other expressways: San Miguel Corp.’s Skyway, NAIA Expressway, South Luzon Expressway, Southern Tagalog Arterial Road and Tarlac-Pangasinan-La Union Expressway and Ayala Corp.’s Muntinlupa Cavite Expressway.
Bautista said the third phase is called open road tolling which is totally contactless where collection is done electronically without the use of toll booths. This will be completed in two to three years
