QUALITY COSTS The recently opened interchange connects Caloocan City to the Port Area in Manila. —FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines — The Toll Regulatory Board (TRB) has approved a provisional increase in the toll for motorists plying the North Luzon Expressway (NLEx) from P7 to P98, depending on the type of vehicle and distance.
In an advisory on Saturday, the TRB said that starting June 15, motorists will have to pay an additional P7 for Class 1 (car, jeepney, van, or pickup) vehicles, P17 for Class 2 (bus and light trucks), and P19 for Class 3 (heavy and trailer trucks) in NLEx’s open system, composed of the toll gates at Balintawak, Caloocan, Mindanao Avenue and up to Marilao in Bulacan province.
In the NLEx closed system, composed of all toll gates north of Marilao to Sta. Ines in Mabalacat City, Pampanga, motorists will have to pay an additional P26 for Class 1, P65 for Class 2, and P77 for Class 3.
At Subic-Tipo, an additional P4 for Class 1, P8 for Class 2, and P11 for Class 3.
Thorough study
This means that those traveling the expressway end-to-end, from Metro Manila to Sta. Ines, will pay an additional P33 (from P299 to 332) for Class 1; P81 (from P748 to P829) for Class 2; and P98 (from P897 to P995) for Class 3.
“The new provisionally approved toll rate adjustments have undergone a very thorough, meticulous and lengthy review and were allowed to be implemented only after NLEx complied with all the procedures and requirements of the TRB,” said the TRB, an agency under the Department of Transportation.
According to the board, the increase was part of the periodic toll rate adjustment petitions filed by NLEx Corp. in 2012, 2014, 2018 and 2020.
NLEx Corp., which also operates and maintains the Subic–Clark–Tarlac Expressway, last implemented an increase in its toll on May 12, 2022, ranging from P2 to P82. It is a subsidiary of the Manny V. Pangilinan-led Metro Pacific Investments Corp.
Subject to review
“Even if the new provisionally approved toll rate adjustments have already undergone a thorough and lengthy review, they are still subject to continuing review by TRB,” the agency said. The TRB regulates the current 12 tollways in Luzon.
According to TRB, NLEX Corp. was allowed to collect this year the last tranche of the 2012 and 2014 periodic toll rate adjustments, and only half of the 2018 and 2020 provisionally approved periodic toll rate adjustments “to help curb the existing inflationary situation, and cushion the impact on the users of the expressway.”
“With the new provisionally approved toll rate adjustments, NLEx Corp. is expected to continue implementing various improvement and expansion works in its road network such as the 3rd Candaba Viaduct, the connection to C5/Commonwealth Avenue from Mindanao Avenue, and the future expansion via additional lanes from San Fernando to Sta. Ines [in] Pampanga,” the regulator said.