‘RFID-only’ Skyway proposal to decongest traffic

MANILA, Philippines — San Miguel Corp.-led Skyway Operations and Maintenance Corp. (SOMCO), operator of the Skyway system, said the planned radio frequency identification (RFID)-only scheme to be implemented on the elevated section of the Skyway will be “a change for the better” following criticisms and oppositions received by the proposal.

SOMCO in a statement said the plan is expected to result in faster and more efficient throughput at elevated toll plazas which, in turn, would mean less congestion at on-ramps and roads leading to the elevated Skyway.

 “We all lose so much just sitting in traffic: time with our families; opportunities in business and at work. In addition, we also waste fuel and impact the environment negatively. As such, the Skyway management continues to look for ways to help ease traffic congestion and make daily drives faster, safer and convenient for motorists,” SOMCO president Manuel Bonoan said.

SOMCO, however, clarified that the plan to designate as “RFID-only” the elevated section of the Skyway – Dona Soledad and Dr A. Santos Exits – is still being reviewed and will only be implemented only upon approval by the Toll Regulatory Board (TRB).

While the proposal is still under review, the private operator appealed to the motoring public to embrace change for the better.

“It only takes six seconds for vehicles with RFID to cross the toll barrier, while cash transactions take about 21 seconds. This means that three vehicles could pass in the RFID lane before one could finish paying at the cash lane,” Bonoan said.

“The objective is to have the elevated Skyway exclusive to RFID users to provide motorists the convenience they are paying a premium for,” he said.

SOMCO said RFID lanes would also be maintained at the at-grade section.

The number of RFID lanes will increase as more motorists switch to the faster and more convenient electronic toll collection system, it said.

Last January, lawyer and advocate of senior citizens and persons with disability Romulo Macalintal said in a statement that SOMCO’s plan to ban non-RFID vehicles at Skyways is “uncalled for,” and also “smacks of the company’s lack of concern to motorists and even a violation of its obligations when it was granted authority to operate its toll facilities.”

“For sure, the Toll Regulatory Board did not intend to discriminate against non-RFID toll users when the TRB granted said authority to Skyways to operate said toll facilities,” Macalintal has said.

He said that if its operator could limit the toll facilities to RFID users, then Skyways should now extend 20 percent discount to senior citizens and persons with disability riding or operating vehicles registered in their names with RFID stickers.

“It has been a long time that SCs and PWDs have been deprived of their rights to get discounts from these toll facilities. If SCs and PWDs are entitled to discounts as passengers, there is no justification why they cannot be extended the same discount, while operating or riding on their own vehicles with RFID stickers,” Macalintal said.