MPTC bares plans to deal with expected heavy traffic on tollways over Undas

In anticipation of heavier traffic volume on Luzon's expressways, the Metro Pacific Tollways Corporation (MPTC) on Tuesday bared its plans ahead of the country's observance of All Saints' and All Souls' Days next week.

The MPTC, the holding company of the North Expressway (NLEX), Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEX) and Cavite Expressway (CAVITEX), will be implementing its "Safe Trip Mo, Sagot Ko" (SMSK) motorist assistance program over the Undas holidays.

MPTC president and chief executive officer Rodrigo Franco said that they are expecting a 10- to 30-percent increase in vehicle traffic on NLEX, which normally sees more than 230,000 vehicles per day.

"On an average, mga 10 percent lang' yan pero on peak days, nagkakaroon ng surge yan ng mga 10 to 30 percent during those times," he said.

From October 27 to November 6, NLEX-SCTEX personnel will deploy additional patrol and incident response teams who will assist distressed motorists.

Traffic personnel will also extend their working hours in order to "closely monitor and manage the expected heavy volume of vehicles in Balintawak, Mindanao Avenue, Bocaue, Sta. Ines, Tarlac, and Tipo toll plazas."

The Balintawak Toll Plaza will open 24 toll collection points during the peak hours of October 27 to 28, October 30 to 31 and November 1.

The Mindanao Avenue toll plaza will open 10 collection points while 16 collection points will be designated for Tarlac toll plaza.

Portabooths and portable toll collection equipment will also be made available for faster transactions.

Bocaue toll plaza, on the other hand, will have 48 collection points for southbound motorists on November 1 and 2.

CAVITEX, during the same period, will also deploy more patrol officers and security personnel to "manage the traffic and assist motorists."

Road works at the NLEX-SCTEX will be suspended beginning on October 27 and will only resume after the ASEAN Summit on November 16. Suspension of major road works at CAVITEX will begin on October 27 until November 2.

SMSK motorists camps that will provide free services such as calls, Wi-Fi, basic mechanic services and first aid treatments will be established at designated locations along NLEX, SCTEX and CAVITEX on October 28 to November 2.

Meanwhile, NLEX senior vice president for Operations and Technology Management Roberto Bontia said that MPTC's P3.7-billion "enhancement programs" will also boost the service capacity of its expressways.

Bontia said that the MPTC has made the "Easytrip" Radio Frequency Identification Project (RFID) payment option available for motorists in NLEX-SCTEX and had it integrated with the existing RFID system in CAVITEX.

RFID stickers are used for payments on expressways to allow more seamless and convenient travel. —NB/BM, GMA News