TRB: Cash lanes to remain on expressways until further notice

Paying with cash at toll roads will continue to be available according to the Toll Regulatory Board (TRB).

Last week, the TRB, along with the Department of Transportation (DOTr) held a meeting regarding the cashless toll collection. Both government agencies came to an agreement to suspend the full rollout of cashless toll collection in all expressways, which was originally set to take effect last January 11, 2021.

With the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) indefinitely suspended, motorists can continue paying with cash at expressways until further notice. More importantly, those without RFID stickers will not be penalized or apprehended when using expressways.

Speaking with Julius Corpuz, spokesperson for the TRB, he said that an ongoing review and assessment prior to the full implementation of the 100% cashless system are currently being conducted. While this is ongoing, motorists without RFID tags are given the chance to secure one at various installation sites.

At the same time, toll operators are given the chance to improve their systems, as well as address the remaining glitches and bugs. Once the tollway operators have fixed these problems, the TRB believes that this will maximize the benefits of the cashless system.

As for when the TRB plans to implement the 100% cashless transaction system, that remains to be seen since no new date was announced. Originally, the full rollout was supposed to be implemented as early as November 2, 2020. It was then moved to December 1, 2020. Finally, it was moved to January 11, 2021, before being suspended indefinitely.

SMC Tollways, which operates SLEX, Star Tollway, Skyway, NAIAX, and TPLEX, announced last week that all of their expressways will make the switch to cashless transactions starting January 11. But with the TRB deciding to defer the implementation of the cashless system, SMC announced that cash lanes will continue to be available on its expressways.

An official announcement will be made once a full rollout of the 100% cashless transaction system comes into effect. In the meantime, those that need to get an RFID sticker can check out the updated list of AutoSweep and EasyTrip installation sites.