Senator Sherwin Gatchalian called for a toll holiday in the whole stretch of North Luzon Expressway while RFID issued are still unresolved.
“If your system is not working, why charge the consumers? Let’s implement the toll holiday in the entire stretch of NLEX because it’s not only Valenzuela experiencing [issues],” said Gatchalian, vice-chair of the Senate committee on public services, an interview on ANC.
“The operators are mandated to put perfect or near-perfect RFID readers, but if it’s not functioning, then why allow the motorists to feel the inconvenience of that imperfection?” he added.
The 101-kilometer NLEX traverse Metro Manila, Central, and Northern Luzon.
The senator said the Department of Transportation ordered the implementation of a cashless payment system to prevent COVID-19 transmission, but it was “not well-planned.”
“I’m calling for suspension until they fix the RFID readers. Even if you extend [the transition period], but you don’t fix the RFID readers, we’re back to the same problem over again,” he said.
“The crux of the problem here is the RFID readers are not working, and the technology that they are using in the north is not functioning, and they have to fix that first,” he added.
Sen. Gatchalian wants toll holiday in all NLEX gates
Gatchalian’s brother and Valenzuela City Mayor Rex Gatchalian suspended the operations of NLEX in the city, which resulted in a toll holiday there.
The mayor said the toll holiday would continue as long as NLEX does not fix their system, which allegedly hurts customers.
In a statement, NLEX said they are doing everything possible to expedite their system’s reorganization and apologize to their stakeholders who have been disturbed by it.
Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. chief communications officer Romulo Quimbo announced that cash lanes would be reopened at the North Luzon Expressway (NLEX) to reduce the heavy traffic brought by system problems on RFID lanes.
MPTC covers North Luzon Expressway (NLEX), Subic Clark Tarlac Expressway (SCTEX), Cavite Expressway (CAVITEX), Cavite Laguna Expressway (CALAEX), Cebu Cordova Link Expressway (CCLEX), and the NLEX Connector.