MANILA, Philippines — Toll rates in North Luzon Expressway (NLEx) will go up starting Tuesday, said Metro Pacific Tollways Corp (MPTC).
Romulo Quimbo, chief communications officer of the MPTC, said the increase will be effective starting 12:01 a.m. Tuesday and will depend on vehicle type.
End-to-end NLEx travel in cars — from Edsa Balintawak or Mindanao Avenue in Quezon City to Santa Ines, Mabalacat City — will be raised by P6, according to Quimbo.
Meanwhile, P2 will be added to NLEx’s so-called Open System, where a flat rate is charged.
The Open System includes busy portions of NLEx, such as Balintawak, Mindanao Avenue, Karuhatan, Valenzuela, Caloocan, Meycauayan and Marilao interchanges and toll plazas.
Trucks, on the other hand, will be charged P16 more in end-to-end travel, and P4 in the Open System.
“Ito pong total increase natin ay between 2 to 3 percent po ito sa toll fee natin,” said Quimbo in an interview over TeleRadyo ABS-CBN.
(This total increase is between 2 to 3 percent of our toll fee.)
He explained that the toll hike was implemented to help with the ongoing projects of NLEx and MPTC.
One project is the rehabilitation of the Candaba Viaduct, a 5-kilometer viaduct carrying the North Luzon Expressway, stretching across the Candaba Swamp in the provinces of Bulacan and Pampanga, which was made in 1977.
“Kailangan po yung pagsagawa ng improvement sa foundation para maging safe ito 24/7,” said Quimbo.
(It is necessary to make improvements to the foundation to make it safe 24/7.)
Another is the NLEx’s road expansion projects in NLEx and the Subic–Clark–Tarlac Expressway (SCTEX).
“Tuloy tuloy po ang construction ng NLEx at ng SCTEX kahit nagpandemya tayo, ‘Yung NLEx connector po natin baka end of the year nasa espanya na po. Aabot na po sa espanya ang NLEx,” said Quimbo.
(The construction of NLEx and SCTEX continues even amid the pandemic. Our NLEx connector may reach Espanya by the end of the year. NLEx is coming to Espanya.)
“Lahat po ito pang solve sa traffic natin habang nagrerecover tayo sa COVID-19 pandemic” he added.
(All this is to solve our traffic problems while we are recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic.)