MPCALA Holdings Inc., a unit of the Metro Pacific Tollways Corp., secured an approval from the Toll Regulatory Board to collect a provisional initial toll on the 10.7-km Cavite-Laguna Expressway (CALAX) subsections 6, 7 and 8 effective February 10.
The toll collection will start upon the issuance of the Toll Operating Permit and Notice to Start Collection.
CALAX will collect VAT inclusive rates of P47 for Class 1 vehicles (ordinary cars), P95 for Class 2 vehicles (buses and small commercial trucks) and P143 for Class 3 vehicles (large trucks or trailers) from motorists.
“The end-to-end opening of CALAX subsections 6, 7 and 8 is imperative to reduce traffic congestion in various parts of Laguna specifically Laguna Boulevard and Aguinaldo Highway,” said MPCALA Holdings Inc. president and general manager Roberto Bontia.
“It is a viable option for motorists given the growing traffic demands in the area,” he added.
Bontia said the implementation of the initial base toll rates was necessary to ensure the sustainability and viability of the expressway as a safe and convenient thoroughfare.
“On our end, our services shall live up to the highest standard for our motorists to experience the convenience of traveling South using CALAX,” he added.
The first 10.7-km has served about 10,000 vehicles daily between SLEX Mamplasan Exit and the new CALAX Santa Rosa-Tagaytay Interchange in the first three months of the toll-free operations.
Partial operations started October 30 in time for the All Saints’ Day.
The 45-kilometer CALAX is a 2×2 lane expressway that will soon connect the CAVITEX in Kawit, Cavite to the South Luzon Expressway at Mamplasan Interchange in Biñan, Laguna. CALAX has 10 interchanges—Kawit, Open Canal, ProFriends, Governor’s Drive, Silang, Silang East, Santa Rosa-Tagaytay, Laguna Blvd., Technopark and Mamplasan.
Aside from the CALAX and CAVITEX network of toll roads, MPTC’s domestic portfolio includes the concessions for the North Luzon Expressway, the NLEX Connector Road, the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway and the Cebu-Cordova Link Expressway in Cebu.