NLEx toll rates go up on staggered basis

Toll rates on North Luzon Expressway (NLEx) will go up starting March 20 after its private operator received clearance from the government to partially implement adjustments going back to 2013.

In a stock exchange filing on Wednesday, NLEx Corp. owner Metro Pacific Investments Corp. said it received the Toll Regulatory Board’s (TRB) order to publish the new toll rates for NLEx.

Some 250,000 vehicles use the 97-kilometer expressway, which runs from Balintawak, Quezon City, to Santa Ines in Mabalacat City, Pampanga province.

The announcement of higher tolls marks progress in long-running talks between NLEx Corp. and the TRB, whose inaction on the company’s past applications eventually prompted the concessionaire to file arbitration cases.

Last year, NLEx Corp. and the Department of Transportation agreed to implement the toll increase on a staggered basis.

The increase will depend on vehicle type, according to NLEx Corp.

Ordinary motorists can expect to pay an additional 22 percent or P10 on 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.

According to the toll matrix released by TRB, Class 1 vehicles (ordinary cars) traversing within Quezon City, Caloocan City, Valenzuela, Malabon, Meycauayan and Marilao sections will now pay P55 from P45.

Class 2 vehicles (buses and small trucks) will be charged P137 from the previous P114, and Class 3 vehicles (large trucks/trailers), P165 from P136.

The fee for Class 1 vehicles traveling end-to-end or from Edsa Balintawak or Mindanao Avenue in Quezon City to Santa Ines, Mabalacat City, will go up to P258 from P236, Class 2 vehicles will be charged P646 from P590, and Class 3 rates will amount to P775 from P708.

“For the past seven years or since 2012, NLEx Corp. has not enjoyed the periodic toll rate increases covered by its concession agreement with the government. This, however, has not prevented the tollway company from making new investments to improve and enhance the services to its thousands of motorists,” NLEx Corp. said.

Further adjustments

In its stock exchange filing, Metro Pacific said the increase represented the first tranche or 50 percent of NLEx adjustments due in 2013 and 2015. Further increases will be made in the coming years, the company said.

Moreover, the order included the provisional add-on toll rate for NLEx due to the opening last week of the NLEx Harbor Link Project.

Because of delays in the implementation of toll adjustments, Metro Pacific said forgone revenues at NLEx had amounted to about P7.5 billion as of Sept. 30 last year.

Metro Pacific is also seeking the implementation of delayed toll adjustments at the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway and the Cavite Expressway.