San Miguel says tollways ready for shift to cashless collection

Conglomerate San Miguel Corp.’s (SMC) infrastructure arm has expressed support to Toll Regulatory Board’s move to shift to cashless collection in major tollways in the country.

“We support the DOTr's and the TRB's move to make toll collection purely cashless. We believe this move will significantly reduce traffic congestion and waiting times at toll plazas and contribute to a smoother and safer travel experience,” SMC president and CEO Ramon Ang said in a statement.

“Our teams are already installing and calibrating RFID scanners and related equipment. We will do everything necessary to ensure that the implementation will go smoothly. If in the course of the dry run period any adjustments have to be made, we will also be ready,” he said.

Early this week, TRB announced it will conduct a two-month dry run of the cashless toll collection program on selected qualified toll plazas starting September 1, 2023.

For SMC Infrastructure, the toll roads arm of San Miguel, transitioning of mixed lanes—or cash-accepting lanes—at select toll plazas and exits have already begun allowing for only cashless transactions.

Under the TRB-directed dry run, only vehicles with an active Autosweep RFID account will be allowed along SMC’s toll expressways, namely the South Luzon Expressway (SLEX); Southern Tagalog Arterial Road (STAR); Skyway at-grade and Skyways 1,2,3; the NAIA Expressway; and the Tarlac-Pangasinan-La Union Expressway (TPLEX).

Motorists without an active RFID sticker will still be allowed to pass, but toll personnel will install an RFID sticker on their vehicle so they can exit at the electronic toll collection (ETC) lane towards their destination.

Toll personnel will only take a photo of the vehicle license plate and secure the motorist’s mobile phone number. Motorists will then need to complete the registration process by supplying other essential information at the Autosweep RFID website.

“Our motorists can always reach out to our customer service team to deal with any concern they have regarding their Autosweep accounts. We appeal to our motorists to report any problems they encounter to our help desk, immediately,” Ang said.

“Replacement of malfunctioning RFID stickers will remain free of charge as part of Autosweep’s commitment to support the full cashless transaction program of the TRB,“ he added.

Motorists who will refuse the installation of RFID stickers on their vehicles will have their license plates recorded and tagged, and may be issued violation tickets for obstructing traffic.

To recall, the Department of Transportation (DOTr) issued Department Order No. 2020-12 on August 13, 2020 requiring cashless or contactless transactions for all vehicles traveling on toll roads as a measure to mitigate the transmission of COVID-19 and a means to ensure a more efficient traffic flow within expressways.

The TRB said the DOTr issued an “addendum” on January 29, 2021 allowing vehicles with no RFID stickers and requiring cash lanes in all toll plazas due to numerous complaints received during the implementation in November 2020 amid various constraints and glitches in the electronic toll collection (ETC) systems.

“This Addendum remains effective as of this time,” the toll regulator said.

For the motorists’ guidance, the following toll plazas and exits at SMC tollways are covered by the cashless and contactless toll transaction program:

—AOL, GMA Integrated News