"The chaotic scene of long queues of cars is expected to get worse as millions of travelers hit the road during the holidays."
It’s a shame that a government project envisioned to showcase a cashless payment method at the toll-ways instead brought about an EDSA-like traffic gridlock along the North Luzon Expressway (NLEX) and South Luzon Expressway (SLEX).
Monstrous traffic jams resulted from the failure of RFID sensors to read the tags attached to the windshield of vehicles starting last Tuesday, December 1st.
The chaotic scene of long queues of cars is expected to get worse as millions of travelers hit the road during the holidays.
Senator Sherwin Gatchalian warned the toll companies that their concessions can be revoked as he called for the review of the concession agreements between the government and toll operators over possible violations committed in the implementation of the RFID system.
He slammed the toll operators for negligence after the RFID sensors in toll plazas malfunctioned, causing the heavy traffic jams.
The senator’s brother, Valenzuela City Mayor Rex Gatchalian, likewise warned that NLEX Corporation might lose its business permit should it fail to solve the traffic caused by the RFID system.
While the North Luzon Expressway (NLEX) Corp. appealed to the Valenzuela City government for more time to address the problem, the Toll Regulatory Board (TRB) has kept mum on the issue.
The TRB, chaired by Department of Transportation (DOTr) Secretary Arthur Tugade has kept mum, apparently unable to find a sensible excuse for the RFID fiasco.
I strongly concur with the lawmakers who urged the Duterte administration to suspend the RFID implementation.
I also support the lawmakers call for an inquiry in aid of legislation into the questionable concession awarded to the Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. (MPTC).
DOTr has been toying with the idea of RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) system since 2017 and believed to be a plan whose time has come amid the need for ways to transact business with less physical contact.
It is supposed to boost efficiency at the toll ways and project a semblance of technological advancement in the public transport services.
But if it does not serve its intended purpose, the government might as well as scrap it altogether.
The motoring public deserves better and improvisation on the RFID will not do.
This dramatizes one of the reasons why our country has remained backward, not only in terms of technology but also in our way of thinking, implementing untested and poorly thought out plans.
There is no reason to rush into using a defective RFID system at the expense of the motoring public.
Rep. Edgar Sarmiento, House Transportation Committee vice chair, said it will take one and a half years to install RFID stickers on over 12 million registered vehicles all over the country.
The two RFID systems operating in the expressways, the Autosweep and the Easytrip, are not even compatible or inter-operable such that this deficiency aggravates motorists who have to travel to and from the north and south Luzon expressways.
The government heed the lawmakers call to hold the RFID implementation in abeyance for thorough review.
Transport officials just got off the hook weeks ago over the EDSA Busway beep cards fiasco.
They should not get away with negligence or shady deals and should be penalized the way they deserve.
