South Luzon Expressway (Photo by Philhyundai.com)
MANILA, Philippines — Amid the expected influx of travelers during the observance of Holy Week, the San Miguel Corporation (SMC) said it has already made the necessary preparations on all of its expressways, including the deployed personnel increase.
In a statement on Wednesday, the SMC said that it increased its deployed manpower in South Luzon Expressway, (SLex), Southern Tagalog Arterial Road (STAR), the Skyway System, Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) Expressway, and the Tarlac-Pangasinan-La Union Expressway (TPLex) to ensure efficient travel and safety for motorists.
Mobile patrol units were also deployed at strategic locations, with ambulant tellers positioned at major toll plazas to expedite toll collection.
“Our operations teams are prepared for the rush of our kababayans leaving Metro Manila to spend the upcoming holidays with their loved ones in the provinces,” SMC President and CEO Ramon Ang said.
“We’ve made the necessary adjustments in our manpower deployment to ensure that traffic will flow smoothly along our carriageways and speed up the scanning of Autosweep tags and cards at exits,” he added.
Meanwhile, Ang said the SMC had also suspended all roadworks and activities in all of its expressways, starting 12:00 p.m. of April 3 until 10:00 p.m. of April 10 to avoid disruptions on traffic flow.
Ensure RFIDs have sufficient balance
Ang also reminded motorists to ensure that their Autosweep RFID (radio frequency identification) tags have enough balance to avoid delays at toll gates.
“We encourage our motorists to make sure their Autosweep RFID accounts have sufficient load and to have their Autosweep cards ready in their vehicles, to avoid any delays. Our ambulant tellers are also equipped to scan cards for faster transactions, in case there is heavy build-up at the exits,” Ang said.
He then told motorists to expect heavy traffic and ensure that their vehicles are in good condition before plying the expressways.
Ang also reminded motorists to practice safety and patience, reminding them of wearing seatbelts and maintaining a safe braking distance, and to adhere to speed limits along expressways.
To note, SMC’s expressways have a maximum speed limit of 100 kilometers per hour (kph) for Class 1 vehicles, and 80 kph for Classes 2 and 3 vehicles.
Skyway Stage 3 and the NAIA Expressway, on the other hand, have a maximum speed limit of 60 kph.