Starting Dec. 1, PNCC to impose toll adjustment

Starting at 12:01 a.m. on Dec. 1, the Philippine National Construction Corp. (PNCC), operator of the North and South Luzon Tollways (NLT and SLT), will be collecting the new Toll Regulatory Board-approved toll adjustment.

In TRB Resolution No. 2003-11, the PNCC was granted a seven-centavo toll rate adjustment for Class 1 vehicles, rounded off to the nearest peso, for the NLT stretch from Balintawak, Quezon City to Sta. Ines, Pampanga and the SLT stretch from Alabang, Muntinlupa City to Calamba, Laguna.

Class 2 vehicles (buses, trucks and six-wheelers) will have a 14-centavo increase per kilometer, while Class 3 vehicles (large trucks and 10-wheelers) will have a 21-centavo adjustment per kilometer.

In its resolution, the TRB said it found the toll adjustment "reasonable and justified" after holding a series of public hearings on the PNCC petition.

Thus, by Dec. 1, the toll for Class 1 vehicles along the Alabang-Calamba stretch, which used to be P7.50, will be P10, while the toll from Balintawak to Sta. Ines, which used to be P20.50, will be P26.

Rates for Class 2 and 3 vehicles will also be adjusted accordingly. The PNCC said the adjustment will not affect the toll from Magallanes to Alabang, which is under the Skyway system.

"We would like to emphasize that the TRB-approved toll rates cover previous expenses that we have already put in place even with the existing rate of P0.26 per kilometer," PNCC president and chief executive officer Wilfredo Cu said in a statement.

These expenses, Cu said, included the costly repair and maintenance of the toll roads, the acquisition of new patrol vehicles, motorcycles, speed guns and communication units, and lane markings, fences, toll booths and other tollway facilities.

According to Mr. Cu, before the TRB has approved the toll adjustment, a kilometer travel along the North and South Luzon Tollways only costs Php 0.26, admittedly a small amount for maintaining and operating the tollways.

"However, we assure our motoring public that the adjusted rates will likewise be expended for other tollway improvement undertaking like more intensive traffic and security program; urgent road repairs; fabrication of additional signages; repair of fences and other toll facilities," Cu declared.

"We appeal to public understanding on this matter. As much as we would like to maintain the presennt rates, costs in thealmost all basic goods – power, water, fuel – have risen. This automatically translates to upsurge in the cost of tollways maintenance and operations. Wit the very low rates, the PNCC can hardly maintain its facilities and improved services," Cu added.