Koko: Suspend NLEX toll hike

MANILA, Philippines — The impending toll rate increase should be suspended by the North Luzon Expressway (NLEX) Corp. to help commuters with rising costs of living and worsening traffic, a senator said.  

Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel III asked NLEX Corp. and the Toll Regulatory Board (TRB) yesterday to stop the toll rate increase, as it “would be unjustifiable and unfair to the motorists who have to deal with sometimes EDSA-like traffic on the expressway, specifically from Balintawak to Meycauayan.”    

“Our people are grappling with the effects of inflation, therefore, implementing a toll increase at these challenging times would exacerbate their economic hardships,” he said.  

Pimentel recommended that traffic congestion on the expressway going north should be fixed instead, as 280,000 vehicles pass through it daily.    

Sen. Grace Poe, chair of the public services committee, urged the TRB to explain its basis for the “drastic hike.”  

TRB earlier said the hike is based on its periodic toll rate adjustment petitions for the years 2012, 2014, 2018 and 2020.   

“If these were periodic adjustments from more than a decade ago, the TRB must explain why it only approved it now in one big swoop. The question of reasonableness should not just be based on the PPP contract but also on traffic data,” Poe said.   

The senator said they should consider “dynamic pricing” or a flexible pricing system based on market demand, as she urged authorities not to charge high rates in exchange for poor performance.  

“Is the expressway really providing express service? Is the convenience provided equal to what is being charged? Maybe it is also high time that the government study dynamic pricing. We should not be charging high rates if customer satisfaction is low or performance benchmarks are not met,” she explained.  

The following rate increases will be effective at NLEX starting tomorrow, June 15, according to the TRB:  

At the Open System (Balintawak, Caloocan, Mindanao Ave to Marilao), motorists will pay an additional P7 for Class 1, P17 for Class 2 and P19 for Class 3.   

At the Closed System, (North of Marilao to Sta. Ines, Mabalacat City), motorists will pay additional P26 for Class 1, P65 for Class 2 and P77 for Class 3.  

At Subic-Tipo, there will be an additional P4 for Class 1, P8 for Class 2 and P11 for Class 3.      

Meanwhile, those traveling NLEX end to end (Metro Manila to Sta. Ines, Mabalacat City) will pay an additional P33 for Class 1, P81 for Class 2 and P98 for Class 3.