Toll road RFID interoperability on track to go live by July

MANILA, Philippines — The Toll Regulatory Board (TRB) is inching closer to fully implementing the interoperability of EasyTrip Services and Autosweep, which will allow motorists to use a single radio frequency identification (RFID) sticker in all tollways.

This week, the regulator conducted its third proof of concept (POC) testing for the program that is expected to make travel experience more convenient for motorists. This feature is aimed to be up and running by July.

“The results are much better than the previous two POC testings, even with the inclusion of the MCX (Muntinlupa–Cavite Expressway) toll plaza,” TRB Executive Director Alvin Carullo told the Inquirer.

READ: Solons to DOTr: Fast-track implementation of tollways’ RFID interoperability

However, he noted that “accurate toll charging between toll plazas with short distance travel needs further assessment.”

Testing this feature is in line with the goal of only using one wallet and one RFID sticker for all tollways regardless of the operators.

EasyTrip and Autosweep

At present, motorists traversing through tollways owned by Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. (MPTC) use EasyTrip Services to pay for toll fees while Autosweep is for San Miguel Corp.-owned expressways.

MPTC portfolio includes the North Luzon Expressway (NLEx), NLEx Connector, Cavite-Laguna Expressway, Subic-Clark Tarlac Expressway and Cebu-Cordova Link Expressway. San Miguel, meanwhile, holds concessions for South Luzon Expressway, Skyway, Naia Expressway, Star Tollway and Tarlac-Pangasinan-La Union Expressway.

READ: DOTr, TRB quizzed over delays in Toll Collection Interoperability Project

Meanwhile, the TRB previously told the Inquirer it would extend the dry run for cashless toll collection program that began in March to April or May because of the new toll plazas being operationalized.

Implementing cashless or contactless transactions via RFID stickers is seen as a way to make vehicle movement faster at the toll roads as it would eliminate long queues at the toll plazas.

For the dry run, Carullo said they were making sure the toll plazas have a 98-percent readability, or automatic detection of RFID stickers while account management deals with accurate charging of toll fees, crediting of load to accounts and updating of account balance information, among others. INQ