“Barriers up or barriers down?”

The meeting between Valenzuela City Mayor Rex Gatchalian and NLEX Corporation officials Monday to discuss the “RFID fiasco” ended with the suggestion of the mayor to remove the barriers in the toll plazas.

This came after NLEX Corp. expressed confidence that it could address the glitches on its toll collection by improving its Radio-frequency identification (RFID)

system by adjusting the RFID sensor wattage and expects the ongoing independent review of the system, to finally solve the "atrocious traffic situation" it caused.

Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) General Manager Jojo Garcia who was present in the meeting backed Gatchalian’s suggestion of a barrier-free NLEX.

As the toll company expressed concern over revenue loss if vehicles without RFID stickers pass through once the barrier-free system is in effect, Garcia recommended that the company may   implement it during certain hours.

“Maganda lahat point ni Mayor Rex...kasi this is not only the concern of Valenzuela eh. Kapag nag-traffic lahat, yang Mindanao , damay na yung Quezon City, damay ang Caloocan. At yan magbubuntis yan, kahit saan, damay ang Navotas (Mayor Rex has good points. Because this is not only the concern of Valenzuela. Other cities, such as Quezon City, Caloocan and Navotas, will also be affected once there is heavy traffic at the Mindanao Toll Paza),” Garcia said.

“Of course, pabor na pabor tayo dyan. Nakita mo naman ginawa ni Mayor Rex, noong toll holiday, nakataas yung barrier, kahit rush hour, walang traffic. So meaning, yung barrier yung nagpapatraffic (Of course, we are in favor of a barrier-free toll. As you can see during this toll holiday, even during rush hours, there is no traffic build-up. So, it means, the barriers cause the traffic),” Garcia added when asked if he is favor of a barrier-free NLEX.

Gatchalian told reporters his meeting with NLEX officials yielded “good” results but noted, he could not say if he was “fully satisfied” since the proposed actions to address the traffic, in particular, was not enough.

"Ang maganda doon, meron tayong mga na-ex sa listahan, merong meeting of the mind. Pero binitin nila tayo doon sa traffic solutions eh (What's good during our meeting was that they were able to answer and solve some from our list of concerns. But they fell short with regards to providing traffic solutions)," he said.

Therefore, NLEX’s business permit suspension, which was served last week due to the faulty RFID system, remains.

“So I await . I cannot say if I'm fully satisfied but we’re getting there. The suspension stays until they come back. They said, they will reach out to us again to discuss about our own proposals,” added Gatchalian in Filipino.  He said NLEX must submit a "satisfactory" action plan before its business permit suspension order is lifted.

Consumers rights issues

One of the reasons Gatchalian suspended NLEX's business permit is the issue on consumer rights.

During the meeting held at the city hall, Gatchalian said the toll company’s RFID policy has an "inefficient reloading" system as motorists experienced "not real time crediting of load to the accounts" as well as limited load limit and expensive maintaining balance.

He also called out the account management issues on the RFID system which reportedly causes missing loads, double charging or negative balance, as well as "ghost riders" or those motorists who are charged without using the expressway.

For its part, NLEX Corporation – represented during the meeting by the company's president J. Luigi Bautistas, vice president Glenn Campos and assistant vice president for operations Maria Northwesterly Dionisio – vowed to improve its system by doing a "full API integration with various facilities by January 2021."

Solutions to traffic 

To temporarily address the RFID fiasco which was supposedly caused by worn out stickers or by  improper placement, the company said it would return cash lanes at NLEX and remove sticker lanes.

It would also remove reloading sites at its toll plazas to avoid traffic build-up that causes gridlock, and to deploy RFID assistants with handheld scanners and contactless card readers to help motorists having issues with their RFID stickers.

Other solutions presented by NLEX were:

·         Load crediting time improvement

·         Traffic management improvement

·         Review of the Karuhatan Toll Plaza configuration, and

·         Accelerated implementation of plan of Open Road Tolling

However, NLEX maintained that these problems just occur to only 2 percent of its total users.  Its RFID system reportedly has a “98 percent” readability rate.

‘Barriers up’

Gatchalian, wearing a red t-shirt bearing the words #BarriersUp during the meeting, is firm on proposing barrier-free toll plazas.

"Eh kung 2 percent lang pala ang hindi nababasa bakit ayaw na lang natin itaas (If you only have 2 percent unreadability rate, why don’t you still want to remove the barriers?)," Gatchalian asked NLEX officials during the meeting.

"Noong nangyari yung toll holiday, maraming nacharge... Proof of concept na pwede (During the toll holiday, there were still many who were charged. This is a proof of concept that a barrier-free toll system works)," he added.

As the company expressed concern over loss of revenue once vehicles without RFID stickers start to pass through the barrier-free expressway, Gatchalian maintained that it should not be the problem of the motorists and the riding public.

He said the company might consider sending a reinforcement team to run after those who will not pay toll fees or impose hefty penalties against them as solution to its concern over revenue loss. 

Garcia agreed with Gatchalian, saying NLEX could deploy people to do "spot checking."

"Ilagay nyo penalty, P5,000 pag dumaan ka dyan," he added. "For Valenzuela alone, pwede na eh . 2 percent lang eh (You impose P5,000 penalties against those who will pass through without paying. In the Valenzuela part of NLEX, we can actually start a barrier-free system). The data came from you."

Garcia also suggested that NLEX add more cash lanes, instead of one or two per toll plazas, for accessibility to motorists.

"If you're going to put 3 cash lanes in Mindanao Toll Plaza, do you think the people will still not choose to pay a P58 toll fee and instead face a hefty fine?" he added in Filipino.

Just the same, NLEX said it is already in talks with the Department of Transportation (DOTr) as it is considering implementing an "open road tolling" by the next two to three years, although there are still infrastructure, regulatory and safety concerns and issues that it has to work on.