DOTr says 90% of toll transactions made through RFIDs

Over 90% of transactions in the country's toll roads are being made through through radio frequency identification (RFID) stickers following the shift to a cashless payment system since the start of the month, the Department of Transportation (DOTr) said Sunday.

Citing data from the Toll Regulatory Board (TRB), the DOTr said over 3.7 million RFID stickers have been installed as of December 8, 2020, compared to 1.4 million during the start of the program. The number of motorists queuing has also decreased to 28,000 from over 34,000 on December 1.

"Nasa 80 to 90 percent ng payment transactions ay cashless or RFID.  Ang ibig po sabihin, almost 100 percent na ng mga motoristang dumaraan sa tollways ay nakikipag-cooperate sa paggamit ng RFID," said TRB executive director Abraham Sales.

"Ang latest na report po sa amin ay 27,906 on that day of December 8. Ang kahulugan po niyan, nakakuha na po [ng RFID] ang karamihan ng expressway users," he added.

Both the Autosweep and the Easytrip systems—which  are used in the expressways connected to Metro Manila—were mandated to go fully contactless and implement RFID payment schemes by December 1.

The Autosweep tags are issued by the San Miguel Group for the Skyway, the South Luzon Expressway (SLEx), the STAR Tollway, the Tarlac-Pangasinan-La Union Expressway (TPLEx), the NAIA Expressway (NAIAx), and the Muntinlupa-Cavite Expressway (MCX).

The Easytrip System covers the North Luzon Expressway (NLEx), the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEx), the Manila-Cavite Expressway (CAVITEx), the C5 Southlink, and the Cavite-Laguna Expressway (CALAX).

Under the first phase of the government's Toll Collection Interoperability Project, Autosweep tags will be readable at the Easytrip System, while the second phase will allow Easytrip RFID tags to be readable at the Autosweep System.

Just last weekend, Valenzuela City Mayor Rex Gatchalian blamed the shift to the RFID collection system for the traffic congestion in the city, and threatened that NLEX Corporation could run the risk of losing its business permits should the concerns remain unaddressed.

NLEX Corporation's business permit was suspended by the local government on Monday, December 7, citing the unresolved issues. Talks are ongoing between the two parties. — BM, GMA News