Starting January 11, all SMC tollways to go 100% cashless

Heads up motorists: SLEX, Skyway, STAR Tollway, NAIAX, and TPLEX will soon go cashless. San Miguel Corporation (SMC) announced that all of its tollways are set to be RFID only by January 11, 2021.

“With our continuous rollout of additional RFID stations which started in November and the completion of our target 156 stations by end-December, we’re no longer seeing long lines at the stations. We will continue to serve and accommodate all motorists wanting to install their free AutoSweep stickers as we approach the January 11 full implementation of cashless toll collection on all expressways set by the government, and even after that,” said Ramon S. Ang, president, and chief operating officer of SMC.

As of today, SMC said that they have converted all but one of its 66 dedicated 'onsite' toll plaza stations into 24/7 stickering sites. This was made evident when AutoSweep released an updated list of RFID installation centers yesterday.

The company also operates 9 RFID centers, 18 gas station installation sites, 11 local government and LTO sites, and 44 mall sites. SMC even put up stickering sites at 3 major transportation hubs, 2 home builders depots, and 3 vehicle showrooms. To manage traffic congestion in several key areas, 11 out of the 156 installation sites operate on an appointment basis.

But with just a few days left before all expressways under SMC go cashless, will there be long lines at installation sites once again? Ang said that the company is confident that there will no longer have lines similar to before.

“With the amount of stickers we have already issued over the past few months, particularly from November through December when we started increasing the number of stations, coupled with now 156 total RFID stations that are well spread out through Metro Manila and neighboring cities and provinces, we see no major problems in serving the remaining number of motorists without stickers yet,” added Ang.

The SMC president also wished to reiterate that RFID installation will continue even after January 11, 2021. This means that those that plan to use SMC expressways can get an RFID sticker at any of the available toll plazas.

“There is no need to panic and rush to the stations. We will retain our installation activities and even expand programs to reach villages and barangays,” stressed Ang.