Metro Pacific Tollways Corporation (MPTC) will begin removing cash lanes beginning September 1, 2023, to implement a cashless payment system along the toll roads it operates, according to a PhilStar report.
“We will go cashless, multi-lane and barrier-less and there will be no toll booths. That’s how it is abroad,” Rogelio Singson, president of MPTC, said at a briefing, adding that MPTC is looking to transition to a fully cashless system by the end of 2024.
A barrier-less toll-collection system is currently used along the NLEX-SLEX Connector, which began charging toll on August 8.
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The shift to cashless tollway systems began in 2020, to minimize face-to-face contact during the COVID-19 pandemic. Initially, the Department of Transportation (DOTr) had mandated a full transition to cashless systems by November 2, 2020, but this was later scrapped and toll operators retained a smaller number of cash lanes to accommodate motorists without RFID tags on their vehicles.
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Around 75% of motorists currently use RFID tags to pay for toll, Singson said. The Easytrip RFID system is used on MPTC tollways: North Luzon Expressway (NLEX), Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEX), NLEX Connector Road, Manila-Cavite Expressway (Cavitex), the Cavite-Laguna Expressway (CALAX), and Cebu-Cordova Link Expressway (CCLEX).
Autosweep RFID tags, meanwhile, are used on toll roads under SMC Tollways: South Luzon Expressway (SLEX), Skyway, NAIA Expressway (NAIAX), STAR Tollway, Tarlac–Pangasinan–La Union Expressway (TPLEX), and Muntinlupa-Cavite Expressway (MCX).
Currently, there is partial interoperability of Easytrip RFIDs on tollways that use Autosweep, but the former must be registered in the latter’s system.
SMC Tollways would also remove cash lanes upon the approval of regulators, said Ramon S. Ang, president of San Miguel Corporation.
