SLEX operator: No toll hike means lower service, safety standards

MANILA, Philippines - South Luzon Expressway operator South Luzon Tollways Corp. (SLTC) said yesterday delays in the implementation of the new SLEX toll rates are exerting tremendous financial pressure on them, making it a challenge for them to maintain service and safety standards at the tollway.

Alma Tuason, SLTC spokesperson, said the firm and its Malaysian investors are still doing all they can to fulfill their end and complete their obligations under their tollway rehabilitation contract with the government.

“They’re still funding the services that motorists have become accustomed to, having used the reconstructed expressway for over year and a half with no change in toll rates,” she said.

Tuason said “SLTC is keeping all eight lanes and the toll plazas open, the newly installed lights on, electric bills paid, the patrols deployed, the cameras and monitors running, and the ambulances, fire trucks, tow trucks and emergency response units on alert.” 

But she admitted that it may become difficult to maintain optimum service levels for long. “At the current toll rate it is not possible to build up a reserve for long-term operations in only three months,” Tuason said.

The Toll Regulatory Board has previously verified that SLTC started collecting toll in May 2010 and had no share in the toll income until then.

With the Supreme Court issuance of a temporary restraining order on the imposition of higher toll rates at SLEX, the rate at the said tollway remains at P.78 centavos per kilometer, the lowest toll per kilometer in the country despite its more than P12-billion modernization undertaken by SLTC.

The new toll system which includes electronic toll gates allowing electronic pass or “e-pass” users to drive through at 28 kilometers per hour, was installed last Aug. 16 as planned, and demolition of the old toll plazas are ongoing. 

Tuason also clarified reports alleging that SLTC has already earned billions since 2006. She said the charge as reported in media, was “very false, damaging, and shameful that it has not been corrected.”

She emphasized that previously reported traffic figures and traffic-generated revenues were also erroneous.

“Our average traffic count is 160,000 vehicles per day, not 250,000. And of this, only 28 percent travel from Alabang to Calamba and pay the total toll of P22. Most vehicles exit between Filinvest and Sta. Rosa,” Tuason said.

According to the current toll matrix approved by the TRB, motorists do not pay for using the reconstructed Alabang Viaduct and exiting in Filinvest. Those exiting in Sta. Rosa pay P13.

SLTC and its operation and maintenance company Manila Toll Expressway System (MATES) maintain that safety remains the highest priority since motorists tend to exceed speed limits when driving on wider roads and smoother pavement. 

“Our accident rate is still low but injuries are more serious. So we don’t relax on safety standards,” Tuason said.