The Toll Regulatory Board (TRB) said it wants the electronic toll collection (ETC) systems in Luzon to be interoperable by June or July this year.
TRB executive director Alvin Carullo said the agency is meeting with tollway operators every month to ensure that they are ready for the implementation of toll interoperability.
“Hopefully, if we can implement the full cashless together with the interoperability and the barrier becomes less, then it would be added convenience for motorists along tollways,” Carullo said.
He said with interoperability, motorists could use one RFID (radio frequency odentification) instead of two, and they could travel seamlessly without delays.
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 Cavity Expressway, C5 Link Expressway and Cavity Laguna Expressway, uses EasyTrip RFID tag for electronic toll collection.
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.
The agreement states that the toll road companies are required to make adjustments in their systems to enable interoperability and an integrated toll collection.
Data showed that as of September 2023, the average daily traffic along NLEX reached 321,384 vehicle entries, while the average daily traffic along SCTEX reached 77,878 vehicle entries.
The average daily traffic for the Connector Road Section 1 reached 12,000 vehicles per day, while SLEX had 351,274 average daily traffic.