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BARRIERS ABOVE In this photo taken on December 8, motorists drive PANDEMIC freely through the toll plaza on Mindanao Avenue, where Valenzuela Mayor Rex Gatchalian declared a “toll holiday” after suspending the tollway operator’s commercial permit for failing to break the gridlock on the Luzon Expressway keeps the barriers high. The operator got his permit back on Wednesday after agreeing to resolve issues with his electronic toll collection.
system. —GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE
Motorists using the North Luzon Expressway (NLEx) in the city of Valenzuela are paying tolls again Thursday, a day after the local government and the highway operator resolved a dispute over how to break the gridlock on the highway from toll caused by a poorly managed switch to electronic toll collection.
On Wednesday, the local government issued an order conditionally lifting the suspension of NLEx Corp.’s business permit, ending a “toll holiday” it imposed on December 7 after the highway operator failed to ease congestion. on the highway caused by radio frequency identification malfunction. (RFID) and slow RIFD tolls and recharges at toll plazas.
NLEx Corp. agreed to raise the barriers at the toll booths from 5 am to 10 pm to allow a faster flow of vehicular traffic. For safety, the barriers will be lowered from 10 pm to 5 am
Nighttime freight traffic In a meeting with the tollway operator on Monday, the city government proposed removing barriers to allow free flow of traffic.
But on Wednesday, Valenzuela Mayor Rex Gatchalian said the city government agreed to lower the barriers after 10 p.m. because conditions on the highway changed with the return of freight traffic on the highway at night.
“There are bigger trucks from central and northern Luzon at night. We have [fewer] law enforcement officers during those hours, so the concern is that these trucks could be overloaded and cause accidents [on] the toll roads, ”Gatchalian told the Inquirer in an interview.
NLEx Corp. agreed to reestablish cash lanes at several toll plazas in the city.
In a deed of commitment signed by NLEx Corp. President and CEO Luigi Bautista, the company pledged to update its RFID system to recharge in real time, improve its applications and account management, streamline its registration process for the January 30, 2021 and resolve customer complaints, including discrepancies in the charge of accounts.
The company also said it would voluntarily cease business operations if it fails to meet the commitment or violates the conditions of the mayor’s permit or other regulations.
NLEx Corp. and the city government agreed to form a technical working group to study Gatchalian’s proposed open road toll on Monday, and to “innovate account and traffic management initiatives.”
I’m not ready for the turn
The suspension of the company’s business permit was lifted at noon Wednesday, breaking up a nine-day standoff during which traffic on the freeway moved faster without the barriers and motorists did not have to go through the RFID reading of trial and error in the tool booths.
The Department of Transportation made the switch to electronic toll collection mandatory as of December 1 after toll collectors caught the coronavirus that causes severe respiratory illness COVID-19.
But even after years of trying to modernize toll collection, tollroad operators had never perfected the system, and the chaos on expressways that came with the December 1 imposition showed the country was not ready for it. change.
The Senate public services committee opens an investigation into the matter Thursday.
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