NLEX Corporation said Friday it was set to implement additional toll fees effective Monday to recover its investment to expand the North Luzon Expressway.
NLEX said it had secured a provisional approval from the Toll Regulatory Board on Oct. 18 to implement additional charge of P0.25 per kilometer for NLEX’s closed system.
Under the provisionally approved new toll fee matrix, Class 1 vehicles (ordinary cars) traveling the entire NLEX between Edsa Balintawak or Mindanao Avenue, Quezon City, to Sta. Ines, Mabalacat City, will only pay an additional P18.
Class 2 vehicles (buses and small trucks) on the same route will only pay an additional P46. Meanwhile, Class 3 vehicles (large trucks/trailers) will only pay an additional P56.
As the provisionally adjusted add-on toll rates exclude the existing NLEX Open System, all vehicles traveling within the Quezon City, Valenzuela City, Meycauayan and Marilao sections will continue to be charged the existing toll fees.
Likewise, the toll fees for the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway system or SCTEX remain unchanged regardless of the vehicle class.
The adjustment was approved after the tollway company completed the construction of 64-new lane kilometers along the Bulacan and Pampanga portions of the expressway amounting to about P2.5 billion.
Motorists have been enjoying safer travel and less congestion brought about by the new infrastructure projects since last year.
The construction of a new carriageway and two new bridges between Dau and Sta. Ines in Mabalacat City was completed in December 2016.
Meanwhile, the new lanes along the Sta. Rita, Guiguinto and San Fernando City sections were opened to motorists in April 2017.
The five-kilometer Candaba Viaduct has also been expanded from the 2×2-lane to the 2×3-lane configuration, hence further improving travel.
The company earlier projected that the number of vehicles plying at NLEX would reach 240,000 daily this year from 230,000 daily last year.
NLEX’s total revenues rose 8 percent to P5.7 billion in the first half to P5.7 billion from a year ago, and on the increasing traffic at both NLEX and SCTEX.
The company’s net profit in the first six months amounted to P2.3 billion, up from last year’s P2 billion.