Gov’t, toll firms sign pact on unified collection system

Motorists will be able to traverse all the 13 toll roads seamlessly as the Department of Transportation (DOTr) through the Toll Regulatory Board (TRB) and Land Transportation Office (LTO) on Friday signed an agreement with expressway operators to unify the toll collection system in Luzon.

The DOTr and the toll roads operators signed a memorandum of agreement (MOA) on the Toll Collection Interoperability on both cash and electronic payments in Taguig City.

DOTr, DPWH, and expressway operators sign agreement on Toll Collection Interoperability @gmanews pic.twitter.com/f0Rn47hai6

— Ted Cordero (@Ted_Cordero) September 15, 2017

The companies who operate the expressways in Luzon are the following:

- Metro Pacific Tollways Corp.
- NLEX Corp.
- CAVITEX Infrastructure Corp.
- Skyway O&M Corp.
- MPCALA Holdings Inc.
- Private Infra Development Corp.
- CITRA Metro Manila Tollways Corp.
- CITRA Central Expressway Corp.
- VERTEX Tollways Development Inc.
- South Luzon Tollways Corp.
- Manila Toll Expressways Systems Inc.
- STAR Infrastructure Development Corp.
- STAR Tollways Corp.
- AC Infrastructure Holdings Corp.
- MCX Tollways Inc.

Under the MOA, expressway operators are required to update their collection systems to allow interoperability and integration.

For electronic payments, each operator shall install and maintain an Electronic Transit Media Reading Device in at least two entry and exit toll booths, which is capable of reading, accepting, and processing any electronic transit media approved by the TRB.

This means motorists can use their electronic tags from one toll road operator to another.

Meanwhile, for cash payments, each toll road operator will be required to install and maintain an Entry Ticket Reading Device in at least two entry and exit toll booths that accepts and processes any entry ticket.

This means that motorists paying in cash will get their tickets once at the entry and pay once at the exit.

For example, a motorist going to Baguio can get an entry ticket at the North Luzon Expressway and then pay at the exit of the Tarlac-Pangasinan-La Union Expressway.

The agreement also states that future toll road operators must also comply with the agreement and unify their collection systems with existing ones.

The interoperability for electronic toll collection shall be implemented immediately, while cash payment collection shall be implemented six months from the signing of the MOA.

Parties to the agreement will also explore the development and possible implementation of Debit Card Interoperability.

The Department of Public Works and Highways and Bases Conversion and Development Authority also signed the Toll Collection Interoperability agreement. —KG/KVD, GMA News