The punishing Metro Manila gridlock is causing our blood pressures to elevate every day. During rush hour you will constantly hear horns blaring as drivers vent their frustration.
The expressways were supposed to be help ease the gridlock, but there are so many cars that they can get overwhelmed. And even tollways can be a source of frustation when motorists see the long lines. But what’s causing traffic at the tollways?
At a lunch with the media, San Miguel Corporation, which operates several expressways under its SMC Infrastructure unit, shed light on what it sees are bottlenecks in the smooth operation of one particular toll road of theirs—NAIAX, or Ninoy Aquino International Airport Expressway.
SMC shared a document to the media showing that, according to its internal data, between 19 to 15% of cars passing through NAIAX have been flagged for having insufficient load. For example, in the week of May 1 - 7, 2024, 115,785 out of 408,290 vehicles were flagged. This comes to an average of 9,593 vehicles daily that slow down and have to roll down their windows because of insufficient funds.
Multiply 9,593 by several minutes and you can see how much delay they cause. And guess what takes longer? Cars with no RFIDs. But that’s another topic entirely.
Yes there are several sides to an issue, especially one as heated as traffic and tollways. In our photo post of San Miguel’s data about the NAIAX numbers, comments easily swelled to the hundreds, showing how much this topic touched a nerve. Motorists also brought up the efficiency (or lack thereof) of Autosweep readers, and the possibility of just removing the barriers. The latter would require a near-perfect tag and reader system, and we did hear thoughts about that from SMC.
Any more thoughts on this? Share your rants, hot takes, and ideas about the NAIAX tollway, and all expressways in general in the comments. We plan to reach out to SMC for answers to your concerns.
