NLEX spending P1.4 billion ahead of full RFID shift

MANILA, Philippines — The private operator of the North Luzon Expressway (NLEX) is spending P1.4 billion to upgrade radio frequency identification (RFID) readers in time for the cashless shift on March 15.

NLEX Corp. is converting its remaining 127 RFID antennas to high-frequency scanners that can read RFID stickers more efficiently.

The upgrade will also enable the antennas to widen its read range for RFID stickers, detecting up to three vehicles in advance prior to their entry in a toll lane.

As the operator of some of the busiest tollways in the Philippines, NLEX Corp. is mandated by the Toll Regulatory Board to achieve 98 percent RFID readability. It must also ensure that vehicles of all classes are detected within a second upon entry into a toll lane.

Apart from this, NLEX Corp. is allocating a portion of the P1.4 billion for the installation of new automatic license plate recognition (ALPR) cameras across its 315 toll lanes. Currently, there are only 77 toll lanes equipped with ALPR cameras.

Once a toll lane has an ALPR camera, it can raise its barriers at all times, as the technology can tag vehicles without an RFID sticker or sufficient balance.

Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. (MPTC), the parent of NLEX Corp., is working on a program to transition to barrierless plazas that would remove the need for motorists to queue up to pay their toll.

MPTC has committed to allocate as much as P10 billion for the project, and the company aims to achieve a barrierless ecosystem by 2026.

Likewise, NLEX Corp. is purchasing speed cameras to strengthen traffic law enforcement across its network made up of NLEX, Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway and NLEX Connector Road. Video systems in the tollways will also be enhanced for monitoring purposes.

NLEX Corp. officer in charge and chief finance officer Maria Theresa Wells said the operator will keep on investing in the latest solutions to improve travel.

Toll concessionaires like NLEX Corp. will start requiring motorists to install an RFID sticker on their vehicles to pass through tollways starting March 15.

The government is mandating a full shift to cashless payments across expressways to prevent the usual buildup in toll plazas caused by motorists who still pay in cash.