Toll board to probe Autosweep system malfunction that snarled expressway traffic

South Luzon Expressway. PHOTO: Philhyundai.com

MANILA, Philippines – The Toll Regulatory Board (TRB) will do a “thorough study and investigation” on the Autosweep system glitch that messed up traffic on the highway on Thursday morning.

In a Laging Handa public briefing Friday, TRB spokesperson Julius Corpuz said they had sent notices to San Miguel Corporation (SMC) Infrastructure and telecommunications providers to explain the malfunctioning Autosweep RFID (radio-frequency identification) tags. He said the TRB is awaiting their replies.

“‘Yan po ay hinihintay namin sa ngayon kasi gumawa na po kami ng liham sa kanila, humihingi kami ng kanilang pagpapaliwanag dito sa pangyayaring ito upang malaman namin kung ano ba ang naging dahilan – tama ba ang kanilang ginawa, at nasa tamang panahon ba ‘yong intervention measures na kanilang inilagay, dahil nais po naming maiwasan muli ang mga ganyang pangyayari,” he said.

(We’re waiting because we’ve already written them letters asking for an explanation of what happened so we can understand the cause – did they respond appropriately, and were the interventions made on time? We want to avoid such events.)

“Ang toll operator po natin – it’s owned by San Miguel Corporation – and so as the TRB na rin, ang regulator, ay humihingi po ng paumanhin sa anumang aberyang naranasan ng ating mga motorista kahapon. Ginagawan po natin ng kaparaanan na sana po’y ‘wag nang maulit ang ganyang mga bagay, kaya gagawa po tayo ng masusing pag-aaral at pag-iimbestiga sa sitwasyong nangyari kahapon,” he added.

(Our toll operator – San Miguel Corporation, owns it – and so as the TRB, as the regulator, we apologize for the problems caused to our motorists yesterday. We are doing everything we can to prevent a repeat of the incident. That’s why we would be doing a thorough study and investigation of yesterday’s (Thursday) events.)

Photos and videos uploaded by netizens on Thursday morning showed long queues along South Luzon Expressway and Skyway. Some even said that at one point, traffic jams extended up to the SMC Infrastructure-controlled Southern Tagalog Arterial Road (STAR) Tollway, which crosses Laguna and Batangas provinces.

READ: Autosweep RFID system failure triggers heavy traffic on SLEx

SMC has already apologized to affected drivers and said it would waive RFID fines. SMC chose to open all gates till the early afternoon, even after restoring Autosweep RFID.

Tolls incurred would be refunded, SMC Infrastructure said.

“We also opened affected toll plazas and waived toll fees. All in all, this covers around 84,000 vehicles that passed through the expressways from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m., Thursday, November 17,” the company said in a statement Thursday afternoon.

“This includes motorists whose ETC (electronic toll collection) accounts were deducted upon entry; they will receive electronic refunds in their Autosweep accounts. While the system was restored around 9 a.m., we decided to keep barriers at toll plazas up, to enable all affected motorists to pass through for free,” it added.

READ: SMC to refund toll of vehicles hit by Autosweep RFID system glitch

In the same Laging Handa briefing, the TRB also assured motorists that they are doing regular audits and checks of tollway management systems.

“May regular check po kami, audit sa mga toll collection systems nila, lahat ng expressway na sakop namin, may regular audit po kaming ginagawa to ensure na ang mga makina, mga systems are always functional,” he said.

(We have regular checks and audits of their toll collection systems and all expressways under our watch, and we do regular audits to ensure that machines and procedures are always functional.)

“At kung dahil sa hindi maiiwasan, kung anumang kadahilanan, gawa man ng tao o kung ano man kadahilanan ‘ika nga, ay dapat may intervention measures silang ipatupad kaagad nang sa gano’n hindi naman ma-inconvenience ang ating mga motoristang gumagamit ng ating mga expressway,” he added.

(And if it’s inevitable, for man-made or other reasons, vehicles using our expressways should be spared the trouble.)

KGA/abc