The Toll Regulatory Board (TRB) said it plans to implement barrier-free toll booths across all expressways within the next two to three years.
“For barrier-less, we are looking at a two to three-year period from now. So, right now, we are crafting the policy document for the implementation,” said TRB executive director Alvin Carullo.
Carullo said both Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. and San Miguel Corp. were making preparations for the implementation of barrier-free toll expressways.
The TRB said having a barrier-less toll road would speed up traffic as there would be no more stopping at toll gates. This would eliminate the choke points and bottlenecks and increase the throughput of tollways, it said.
The regulator said that with the electronic toll collection/radio frequency identification, the system could transact one vehicle passage within five seconds. This is equivalent to about 900 vehicles per hour.
Carullo said once the barrier-less system is implemented, the toll lanes would be almost free flowing, and the stop-and-go motion would be eliminated. It will significantly increase the throughput per toll lane.
TRB also said that it expects to implement a fully cashless and interoperable toll system across all expressways within the year.
The Department of Transportation (DOTr) earlier ordered a suspension of the cashless toll system’s implementation, scheduled for this month, for further review.
Carullo said TRB and the toll operators were working to resolve issues such as the account management system and RFID readability.
SMC and MPTC earlier said that the cashless toll system is critical for the implementation of the full interoperability of electronic toll collection across all expressways.
The toll collection interoperability project was launched in 2017, with the signing of a memorandum of agreement (MOA) between the Department of Transportation, Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), Land Transportation Office, TRB, San Miguel Group, Metro Pacific Group and the Ayala Group.
Under the agreement, the tollway companies are required to make adjustments in their systems to enable interoperability and an integrated toll collection.
The average penetration rate of ETC transactions across all tollways is at 90 percent.
San Miguel Corp., which operates Skyway, South Luzon Expressway, STAR Tollway and NAIAx, uses AutoSweep RFID tag, while Metro Pacific Tollways Corp., which operates Manila Cavite Expressway, C5 Link Expressway and Cavite Laguna Expressway, uses EasyTrip RFID tag for electronic toll collection.