CALAEx to collect toll starting Feb. 10

Motorists using the Cavite-Laguna Expressway (CALAEx) will have to pay a toll beginning next week after its operator MPCALA Holdings Inc. secured an approval from the Toll Regulatory Board (TRB).

In a statement Thursday, MPCALA—a unit of Metro Pacific Tollways Corporation— said it was granted a provisional initial toll for the 10.7-kilometer segment of CALAEx, effective February 10.

Toll collection will start upon the issuance of the Toll Operating Permit and Notice to Start Collection, the company said.

CALAEx will collect VAT-inclusive rates of P47 for Class 1 vehicles, or ordinary cars; P95 for Class 2 vehicles like buses and small commercial trucks; and P143 for Class 3 vehicles such as large trucks or trailers from motorists.

“The end-to-end opening of CALAEx subsections 6, 7 and 8 is imperative to reduce traffic congestion in various parts of Laguna specifically Laguna Boulevard and Aguinaldo Highway. It is a viable option for motorists given the growing traffic demands in the area,” MPCALA Holdings president and general manager Roberto Bontia said.

“The implementation of the initial base toll rates is necessary to ensure the sustainability and viability of the expressway as a safe and convenient thoroughfare. On our end, our services shall live up to the highest standard for our motorists to experience the convenience of travelling South using CALAEx,” Bontia said.

The first 10.7-km has served about 10,000 vehicles daily between South Luzon Expressway (SLEx) Mamplasan exit and the new CALAEx Santa Rosa-Tagaytay Interchange in the first three months of its toll-free operations.

Partial operations started last October in time for Undas.

The 45-kilometer CALAEx is a 2x2 lane expressway that will soon connect the CAVITEX in Kawit, Cavite to the SLEx at Mamplasan Interchange in Biñan, Laguna.

CALAEx has 10 interchanges: Kawit, Open Canal, ProFriends, Governor’s Drive, Silang, Silang East, Santa Rosa-Tagaytay, Laguna Blvd., Technopark, and Mamplasan.

Aside from the CALAEx and CAVITEX network of toll roads, MPTC’s domestic portfolio includes the concessions for the North Luzon Expressway (NLEX), the NLEX Connector Road, the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEX) and the Cebu-Cordova Link Expressway (CCLEX) in Cebu. — BM, GMA News