SMC wants to triple e-payment penetration rate for toll roads

MANILA, Philippines - Diversified conglomerate San Miguel Corp. (SMC) is set to almost triple the penetration rate of the automated electronic payment scheme for major toll roads with the introduction of a new electronic toll collection system this month.

SMC is looking at a higher penetration rate of between 60 percent and 80 percent over the next two to three years with the roll out of the new radio frequency identification (RFID) toll collection system for the South Luzon expressway and the Skyway by the end of the month to complement the existing E-Pass system.

The automated electronic payment scheme under the existing E-Pass system has a penetration rate of less than 30 percent.

SMC pointed out that the ETC stickers cost much less than the current E-Pass tags and would help increase the utilization of automated electronic payment among motorists.

Under the new collection system, toll would be deducted through special RFID-embedded ETC stickers attached to a vehicle’s windshield or headlamp. The stickers could be read even at higher speeds, allowing for faster and smoother traffic flow at toll gates.

Furthermore, SMC said the new cutting-edge system is seen to decrease tollway throughput to only about five seconds to process cash toll payments from the current average of 25 seconds.

The diversified conglomerate said the new payment system would also be deployed in other major tollroads such as the STAR Tollway, the Tarlac-Pangasinan-La Union Expressway, the upcoming Skyway Stage 3, and TR 4 in Lucena.

Even with the release of the new system, SMC said the E-Pass system would continue to be used alongside the new technology.

The company expressed confidence that as more motorists use both the E-Pass and ETC stickers, traveling on SLEX, Skyway and Star would be more efficient and convenient for motorists.

The launch of the new system is also timely, as traffic volumes are expected to increase in the coming months as a result of ongoing and upcoming major infrastructure projects.

For this project, SMC partnered with the Vendeka Group of Turkey, an information and communications technology developer and manufacturer that specializes in electronic toll collection as well as consumer electronics, software development, and design.

Unlike the E-Pass, the new ETC stickers does not require batteries as they are powered by transceivers located in toll gates and are interoperable and could be used in other toll roads and even eParking systems employed in malls and offices.

Furthermore, the stickers could be read faster even for vehicle running up to 190 kilometers per hour.

The stickers are also expected to work for the entire lifetime of the vehicle windshield or headlight to which they are attached and are highly secured with no cash transactions.

Major road projects being undertaken by SMC include the P26.5 billion Metro Manila Skyway Stage 3 project that would connect SLEX with the North Luzon expressway (NLEX), the P24 billion Tarlac-Pangasinan-La Union Expressway (TPLEX), and the P16 billion Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) expressway.