NLEX ready to implement reduced toll rates

The Manila North Tollways Corp. (MNTC) said yesterday it is set to implement starting Dec. 20 new toll rates at the North Luzon Expressway (NLEX).

The adjusted toll rates are, on the average, 10 percent lower than the current levels.

The downgraded toll rates were originally set to take effect on Jan. 1, 2007, but the MNTC advanced its implementation to Dec. 20.

The Toll Regulatory Board (TRB) made public yesterday the approved new toll rate schedule to be enforced at NLEX Phase I (Balintawak toll plaza in Quezon City to Sta. Ines in Mabalacat, Pampanga) for two years ending Dec. 31, 2009.

"As we have declared in the beginning, during the toll rate-fixing process, the NLEX toll rates will adjust based on such factors as the rates of currency exchange and inflation," MNTC president Jose de Jesus said.

According to the supplemental toll operations agreement between the MNTC and the government, the NLEX toll rates are adjusted every two years.

"That time has come," De Jesus said.

Marlene Ochoa, MNTC vice president for corporate communications, said the adjustments were based on the company’s toll fee formula, and were made possible by the peso’s strong performance in the foreign exchange market and the steady inflation rate.

The factors in the toll rate formula are a fixed base rate and an adjustment factor with three main elements — a yearly escalation of one percent, peso-dollar exchange rate movements, and the consumer price index.

The MNTC expressed optimism that the reduced toll rates would encourage more people to travel to the North during the Christmas holidays and beyond.