The Department of Transportation (DOTr) has commended the Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. (MPTC) which is now all set for the implementation of contactless toll collection transactions in its expressways in November.
Transportation Assistant Secretary for Road Transport and Infrastructure Mark Pastor said the DOTr and its attached agency, the Toll Regulatory Board (TRB), recognized the commitment and immediate support of the MPTC on the Department's directive to implement cashless transactions for motorists when using toll expressways.
"I am glad to note that a few days after the announcement, our toll operators, especially the MPTC, has risen to the challenge. It immediately expressed full support for the initiative. Thus, we have this event. Thank you very much for your cooperation," Pastor said in a virtual press conference.
Last month, DOTr Secretary Arthur Tugade signed Department Order 2020-012 which directs concerned agencies, including the TRB, the Land Transportation Office (LTO), and the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB), to formulate new processes and procedures within three months to ensure the smooth implementation of the new policy.
According to DOTr, the implementation of an all-RFID collection system will not only help to prevent the transmission of COVID-19 but also aimed to ensure more efficient traffic flow in the expressways.
"We carry with us the burden of ensuring that our transport facilities will not be a transmission vector of the disease, while at the same time, providing an efficient system of public transport. With both tasks at hand, there is a need to strike a balance. Requiring contactless transactions is one of our ways of doing it," Tugade had earlier said.
Less than a month since the order was issued, MPTC South Management Corp. President and General Manager Roberto Bontia announced that about 75 percent of the corporation's expressway lanes have been RFID-enabled.
With this percentage, Bontia said the existing traffic volume can already be accommodated.
The MPTC also assured that all of its toll lanes will be 100 percent RFID-ready and compliant by November this year, in line with the directive of the DOTr to immediately implement the new policy not later than Nov. 2.