Pimentel asks NLEX to fix ‘EDSA-like’ traffic before imposing any toll hike

The North Luzon Expressway (NLEX) management must fix the “EDSA-like” traffic before imposing any toll hike, Senate Minority Leader Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III said Tuesday.

The lawmaker made the statement amid Toll Regulatory Board’s (TRB) approval of a provisional increase in NLEX toll where Class 1 vehicles such as car, jeepney, van or pickup, will have to pay an additional P7 in NLEX's open system effective June 15; P17 for Class 2 vehicles like bus and light trucks; and P19 for Class 3 vehicles like heavy and trailer trucks.

The expressway’s open system covers Balintawak in Caloocan, Mindanao Avenue and Marilao in Bulacan.

In NLEX’s closed system which starts in Marilao to Sta. Ines in Mabalacat City, Pampanga, motorists will have to pay an additional P26 for Class 1, P65 for Class 2, and P11 for Class 3.

"Any increase at this point would be unjustifiable and unfair to the motorists who have to deal with sometimes EDSA-like traffic on the expressway, specifically from Balintawak to Meycauayan," Pimentel said.

"Bago sila humingi ng dagdag na bayad, ayusin muna nila ang trapik sa NLEX. I call on the management of NLEX to address this perennial traffic buildup on our major expressway," he added.

According to the Senate minority chief, there were reports that traffic congestion in NLEX has become a “recurring problem that causes delays and inconvenience for motorists.”

Pimentel is also appealing to NLEX and TRB to put on hold the provisional increase in toll rates due to the effects of inflation, saying that implementing a toll hike “at these challenging times would exacerbate their economic hardships.”

"To approve a provisional increase in light of these serious traffic concerns and the worsening inflation in the country is a disservice to the Filipino people," he said.

"It is time that the government provides some relief to our motorists."

Meanwhile, Senate public services committee chairperson Grace Poe urged the TRB to explain the hike in toll rates.

"If these were periodic adjustments from more than a decade ago, the Toll Regulatory Board must explain why it only approved them now in one big swoop," she said in a separate statement.

"The question of reasonableness should not just be based on the PPP contract but also on traffic data. Is the expressway really providing express service? Is the convenience provided equal to what is being charged?" she asked.

Poe also raised the possible need for the government to study dynamic pricing, asserting that the public should not be charged high rates if customer satisfaction is low or performance benchmarks are not met.

While she acknowledged that rate adjustments are within the Public-Private Partnership contract, Poe said that it is TRB’s duty to ensure that the interests of the commuting public are also protected.

"I urge the Toll Regulatory Board to look into this matter from a different perspective and make considerations for the end-users," she said.

"We pay tolls for a faster journey—that is exactly why it is called an expressway. We should approve toll fees at the same speeds that the expressway affords its users," she added. 

GMA News Online has sought comments from NLEX Corporation Vice President Jennifer Jane Go and TRB spokesperson Julius Corpuz, but they have yet to respond as of posting time. —Hana Bordey/KBK/VBL, GMA Integrated News