Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the Department of Transportation (DOTr) has announced that it will be implementing a contactless solution for collecting toll fees. As DOTr says, this initiative is in line with its mission to provide a safer, reliable, and more efficient transport service for the Filipino people.
How is it related to the worldwide health crisis? According to DOTr, implementing a cashless toll fee collection procedure will ensure physical distancing. Note also that according to the World Health Organization, COVID-19 can persist on both metallic and paper money for several hours. This means that this new cashless payment method will maximize not only the health and safety of a driver but also of the toll workers.
A new cashless procedure will also provide a faster transaction. As a result, it will further lessen queuing and congestion at the many toll plazas spread throughout the Philippines.
Faster transactions might also mean less congestion on toll plazas
This initiative was put into paper under Department Order 2020-012. It was signed on August 13, 2020 by DOTr Secretary Arthur Tugade. The DOTr secretary also said that:
“We carry with us the burden of ensuring that our transport facilities will not be a transmission vector of the disease while at the same time providing an efficient system of public transport. With both tasks at hand, there is a need to strike a balance. Requiring contactless transactions is one of our ways of doing it.”
Upon signing the order, concerned agencies were tasked to come up with new solutions to smoothly implement the new policy within three months. As such, we can expect all tollways to go cashless sometime around November 2020.
Do note however that as with any newly implemented procedures, there will be “initial inconveniences.” This is what Secretary Tugade himself has admitted as such.
Now's the high time to go cashless
The cashless system will be implemented on North Luzon Expressway (NLEX), South Luzon Expressway (SLEX), Manila-Cavite Toll Expressway (CAVITEX), Southern Tagalog Arterial Road (STAR), Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEX), Cavite-Laguna Expressway (CALAX), among others.
Currently, both Easytrip and Autosweep can be installed for free at their respective customer service centers and offices. See the list below.
Autosweep Point-of-Sale locations |
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Easytrip Point-of-Sale locations |
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NLEX Northbound Shell Balintawak Balintawak CSC NLEX Valenzuela Customer Service Center Petron Marilao Shell Select Balagtas Petron Plaridel NLEX San Fernando Customer Service Center EasyTrip Booth, Dau |
NLEX Southbound Shell Select, Mexico, Pampanga Shell of Asia Guiguinto, Bulacan NLEX Tabang Customer Service Center NLEX Bocaue Customer Service Center Petron Balagtas, Bulacan EasyTrip Booth, Marilao Toll |
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