No RFID? Pasensya na po!

I didn’t realize my tirades were that loud, but they got the desired results.

I threw a major tantrum over the non-functioning automatic RFID scanners on the NAIA-X and SLEX. Each car had to stop, present the card and have it checked manually, resulting in long lines. In one week (Sept. 16-21), out of the 10 times I used the expressway (five times each way to and from work) only thrice did the scanners work – twice at the NAIA-X Tramo entry and once – only once – at the NAIA-X/SLEX toll gates. The convenience of the expressway (and it is convenient for sure) was negated by the inefficiency at the toll gates – I spent more time queuing up at the toll gates than traversing the expressway.

I made sumbong to everyone who would listen (and even some who didn’t care to) – my nephew who works with a company in the SMC group (he patiently indulged his tita going ballistic over Sunday dinner), my co-editors at our daily editorial meeting (our Business editor commiserated with me enough to say she would get someone in SMC to call me, but that person never did, as Iris probably told her how livid I was).

The devil is always in the details, and it’s infuriating that these huge tollway companies (I am told it’s the same problem in the north) would spend billions building these beautiful roadways and then what? Get some crappy scanning system or not bother to properly maintain them?

Anyway, this “only in the Philippines” story has a happy ending – for now. The next week (Sept. 23-28) the RFID scanners worked, ten times out of ten! Hallelujah! I don’t know if my complaining managed to somehow reach the correct ears or if they were really intending to fix the scanners, but whatever it was, it worked, so thank you. I hope this happy state continues.

The implementation of the no RFID/insufficient balance=no entry rule has been postponed again, from Aug. 31 to Oct. 1 and now to January 2025. No wonder people in this country ignore timetables set by government – they know there will most likely be an extension or a postponement, or even a TRO. Think SIM card registration, national ID sign up, jeepney modernization… When I do media workshops I always tell participants that in the newsroom, a deadline is exactly that – dead; it’s not fainting or even comatose. The presses have to run, the paper has to go out, no extension, no postponement.

I have great respect for Transport Secretary JJB, but his explanation for the postponement is just bureaucratic gobbledygook. “The DOTr has the tools to address congestion on major roads but is taking time for a thorough review to ensure these solutions meet motorists’ needs,” he said, adding that the postponement will give agencies time to “provide innovative solutions to traffic congestion at major thoroughfares.” The moratorium is supposedly part of the DOTr’s move to ensure that its toll and traffic strategies aligned with the President’s goal of fixing perennial traffic problems in the metro.

Shouldn’t the “thorough review” and “innovative solutions” have been done before the bright idea was announced? Perhaps it’s his way of saying the toll companies aren’t ready – with working scanners and properly trained personnel to handle violators. Anyway, as they say, whatever.

Actually, the system in place now is very workable – one or two lanes for vehicles with no RFID and/or insufficient balance, and the other lanes for vehicles with proper RFIDs to get through seamlessly. As with many things in the Philippines, it’s the implementation that’s the problem. They should be strict about RFID and non-RFID lanes – after all, there are more than enough signs a good distance before the toll gates for drivers to choose the correct lane. I know there will always be stupid pasaway drivers who will take the wrong lane, but they should not be allowed to get away with “pasensya na po” and instead be penalized, if not with fines (no word on when the fines will be implemented) then at least get them out of the toll lane, let them stew on the side of the road, confiscate their RFIDs or make them get RFIDs on the spot, any inconvenience (oh, I can think of many forms of punishment!) to teach them a lesson.

As it is now, the toll gate people accept cash – and even make change! – in the RFID lane (I saw this happen last Monday, two cars ahead of me at the NAIA-X Tramo entry, even though there is a separate cash lane), so it’s just fine and dandy for these idiots to pass through whichever lane they want. Pasensya na po.

I’m all for the current system of leaving a lane or two for those with no RFID; the Toll Regulatory Board said there are about 100,000 vehicles still without RFIDs. Since you do have to maintain a balance on your RFID – P100 I think – I can see why taxis and TNVs and those who rarely go on the expressways might object. So give them one lane to pay cash, and keep them out of RFID lanes.

Business editor Iris wants it to be as efficient as tollways in other countries, where you don’t even have to slow down or stop, don’t have to wait for bar to lift but just zoom through. For me, having gone through countless times of “Ma’am, card nyo po” I’m happy with having to slow down, have my card manually scanned and my balance flashed on the screen, then go when the bar lifts. I ask for so little – mababaw ang kaligayahan ko – I just hope my kaligayahan on the expressways lasts.