MANILA — The Marcos Administration remains optimistic that motorists will soon enjoy convenient and congestion-free travels at expressways, despite the challenges facing the country’s tollways.
In a press briefing, Department of Transportation (DOTr) Secretary Jaime Bautista said the implementation of new tollway rules has been deferred anew until January next year under Joint Memorandum Circular No. 2024-001.
“We are collating inputs from recent consultation meetings with various tollway stakeholders including information and profile of violators. This information will be used to make any amendments to the Joint Memorandum Circular,” Bautista said.
Bautista, however, emphasized the need for continuous fine-tuning of tollway operations to achieve the ultimate goal of having seamless expressways.
“Let us not lose sight of the goal: convenient and traffic-less travels at all expressways using cashless toll exits,” he said.
The new tollway rules will impose fines on motorists without radio frequency identification (RFID) tags or with insufficient funds in their accounts. The rules were supposed to be implemented starting October 1.
According to Toll Regulatory Board (TRB) Executive Director Alvin Carullo, the deferment will continue until the operational system issues are resolved.
“Pag-aaralan po namin kung sa dumating ang January natin talagang hindi pa rin nakakamit nila ‘yung tinatawag natin na efficiency ng ating toll operations system, maaari po na i-defer pa natin ng further,” he said.
Carullo noted the operational system issues include defective RFID tags and readers.
Motorists who seldom use tollways are not required to install an RFID. He said there will still be a dedicated cash lane for non-regular users of tollways. (PND)
