“It’s unfortunate many motorists were caught in traffic last Monday. We apologize for the inconvenience," San Miguel Corporation (SMC) president Ramon S. Ang said in a statement issued this afternoon (July 14) after the congestion at Skyway 3 on the first day the operator collected toll fees.
Skyway O&M, operator of the Skyway system, a unit under SMC Infrastructure, expects more seamless movement along the expressway after implementing new measures to clear access and exit points.
"Hopefully, with the measures we put in place, traffic conditions will continue to improve and normalize,” according to Ang.
“Our Skyway teams are always on the ground, and we monitor our expressways via cameras 24/7. If there’s any issue, we can respond and make corrective measures very quickly,” he assured.
Traffic throughput at toll plazas slowed down on Monday due to vehicles with insufficient load, as well as those availing of free RFID sticker installation and re-loading, on-site.
Since then, the operator deployed more personnel for traffic management, toll collection, and Autosweep RFID sticker installation.
They also opened more lanes for Autosweep RFID installation and reloading.
Furthermore, they installed more signs to guide motorists who are unfamiliar with the expressway, its toll plazas and the start of toll collection.
Motorists with no RFID stickers, who insist on paying in cash, or have insufficient balance are asked to exit the toll booth and park on the side so as not to inconvenience existing ETC users.
They are given the option to have RFID tags installed or reloaded, or pay in cash.
Vehicles with no RFID or have insufficient balance are directed to Del Monte Toll Plaza B coming from Balintawak where they can have their RFID tags installed or reloaded.
Skyway O&M reported that traffic throughput at toll plazas was significantly better starting yesterday (July 13), the second day of toll collection.
Traffic queues at the Buendia southbound exit, which has two lanes, and where significant buildup happened on Monday, was considerably shorter at only up to 200 meters. This was observed only during rush hour, starting 8 am.
While the majority of motorists used electronic toll collection, a small percentage, 4%, consisting of cash-paying motorists and users with insufficient load, slowed down transaction times at toll plazas.
The additional measures implemented have since addressed these issues, bringing about a smoother traffic flow, according to SMC.