Dry Run Of Cashless Tolls In PH Expressways To Begin September 1

At the height of the pandemic, there was a strong movement to remove cash lanes and implement cashless tolls across expressways in the Philippines. At the time, it was a way to reduce the spread of COVID-19, but its long-term goal was to speed up or even eliminate queuing at toll booths. Now in 2023, the Toll Regulatory Board (TRB) has directed the Tollway Concessionaires and Operators of expressways under its jurisdiction to conduct a dry-run of the Contactless Program on selected qualified toll plazas for two months starting September 1, 2023.

This is in line with TRB’s support and compliance with the Resolution passed by the Committee on Transportation of the House of Representatives calling for the re-implementation of the Contactless Program. This was issued under Department Order No. 2020-12 dated August 13, 2020, requiring cashless or contactless transactions for all vehicles traveling on toll expressways.

Metro Pacific Tollways Corporation (MPTC), the concessionaire of NLEX, SCTEX, NLEX Connector Road, CAVITEX, CALAX, and CCLEX, is also planning to implement “barrier-less” toll booths, similar to its implementation during peak hours in the city of Valenzuela. The contactless toll dry run will happen in most toll booths of MPTC, and here is a list of toll booths that will participate in the two-month dry run beginning September 1.