NLEX Corp. eyes relocating RFID sticker installation sites in Valenzuela

NLEX Corp. on Tuesday detailed the steps it plans to take to address congestion issues in Valenzuela City, such as the removal of radio frequency identification (RFID) stickers at the toll gates and transfer them elsewhere.

According to NLEX Corp. senior vice president Romulo Quimbo Jr., the company is looking to present and discuss the solutions to Valenzuela City Mayor Rex Gatchalian who suspended its business permit over the RFID issues.

"We submitted the plan, we agreed last night that we can sit down and discuss the concrete steps by which we can improve the traffic situation which, of course, the people of Valenzuela have been complaining about," Quimbo said in an interview on CNN Philippines.

"We recognize that the toll gate is also the source of traffic congestion in the expressway and the city roads. We recognize that," he added, noting that technology glitches also continue to hound the RFID system.

Gatchalian over the weekend blamed the shift to the RFID collection system for the traffic congestion in the city, and threatened that NLEX Corp. could run the risk of losing its business permits should the concerns remain unaddressed.

On Tuesday, Quimbo said the company is looking to impose five measures to improve the traffic situation:

•     Relocating or removing the sticker installation at the toll gates and transferring sites to a different area;
•     Improve and install additional antennas to improve and speed up the payment system;
•     Deploy RFID assistance for every toll gate and toll lane to support motorists with stickers not properly scanned;
•     Enhance maintenance and accelerate the procurement of additional equipment and upgrading of software; and
•     Redesign and rearrange the space in Karuhatan Interchange, in partnership with the local government.

"We would like to ask him to hear us out so we can agree on the solution and the steps moving forward. This is top priority for us because we know that his constituents are suffering and we commiserate with that issue with his constituents," said Quimbo.

The government set a December 1 deadline for major tollways in the country to shift to a fully cashless system, in a bid to minimize human interaction and arrest the spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

NLEX operates the Easytrip System which covers the North Luzon Expressway (NLEx), the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEx), the Manila-Cavite Expressway (CAVITEx), the C-5 Southlink, and the Cavite-Laguna Expressway (CALAX).—AOL, GMA News