Amid RFID problems, Tugade says there is a plan to unify all toll systems.

MANILA – Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade said Thursday that toll operators are expected to begin deploying radio frequency identification (RFID) stickers that could be used on all highways starting next month.

The Department of Transportation wants to begin the first phase of the project in January and achieve a “full cashless transactions” system by “the middle of next year,” Tugade said during a Senate hearing.

“Those who ride the NLEX can now go to the San Miguel system,” he said, referring to the North Luzon Expressway, which is under Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. (MPTC) and San Miguel Corp., which operates that South Freeway. Luzon.

(Those traveling by NLEX can use it on the San Miguel system).

The two toll road operators use different RFID stickers: Easytrip for MPTC toll roads, including NLEX, SCTEX, Cavitex, Harbor Link and Cala Expressway, and Autosweep for SMC’s SLEX, TPLEX and STAR Tollway.

“That will be achieved in the middle of next year … I don’t know if we can handle it, but we will work hand in hand,” he said.

(We can do it by the middle of next year … I don’t know if we can do it, but we’ll work hand in hand)

Sen. Nancy Binay asked Tugade if the cash lanes on the highways would be eliminated in mid-2021, to which the Transportation chief clarified that cash transactions would continue to be accepted for “emergencies.”

“We will always allow the possibility of having a cash box for emergencies,” Tugade said.

His announcement came days after senators and motorists criticized the agency’s directive for toll operators to implement a full system of cashless transactions this month to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Tugade previously apologized for the inconvenience caused by the switch to cashless payments at toll plazas, admitting that the system has yet to be perfected.

He blamed the Tolls Regulatory Board (TRB), which he chairs, for its “failure” to implement some of its directives that allegedly shortened the processing time for installing RFID tags.

Some motorists spent long hours in line to have RFID stickers installed on their vehicles.

On Wednesday, President Rodrigo Duterte called TRB officials “incompetent” for not testing the cashless transaction scheme before forcing motorists to switch to the new mode of payment.

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