Stagger return trips, public urged

MANILA, Philippines - Tollway authorities yesterday advised motorists to start trooping back to Metro Manila as early as New Year’s Day to avoid the projected gridlock on the expressways.

Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC), the firm that operates the 86.7-kilometer North Luzon expressway (NLEX), the 93.77-km Subic-Clark-Tarlac expressway (SCTEX) and the 13.4-km Manila-Cavite Toll expressway (Cavitex) issued the advisory to motorists as the exodus from the provinces began after the Christmas rush.

Rodrigo Franco, president of MPIC’s Manila North Tollways Corp. (MNTC), said motorists at the NLEX and SCTEX should carefully plan their trips from and back to Manila during the long holiday to avoid the inconvenience of heavy traffic.

Franco said volume is expected to peak at NLEX northbound on Dec. 31 and southbound on Jan. 3 and 4.

In the first nine months of the year, volume of vehicles along NLEX went up by six percent to 181,448 per day while volume of vehicles along Cavitex rose eight percent to 109,141 per day.

Traffic along NLEX and SCTEX usually increase to double-digit figures during the Christmas holidays while volume at Cavitex remains the same.

Franco said preliminary figures showed the volume of vehicles using NLEX reached over 252,000 last Friday.

Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. president Ramoncito Fernandez said they opened spare lanes and even counter flow lanes in some portions to alleviate traffic.

“NLEX and SCTEX have opened spare lanes ad counter flow lanes complemented capacity with deployment of ambulant tellers to address volume surge,” Fernandez said.

Traffic along toll road experienced queues of up to three kilometers in toll plazas.

For one, heavy traffic was experienced along the opened portion of the 88.5-km Tarlac-Pangasinan-La Union expressway (TPLEX).

The completed portion of the TPLEX experienced congestion with queues stretching as long as seven kilometers as vacationers trooped to Baguio City during the Christmas season.

Ordeal

Senate President Franklin Drilon said he was among those who got stuck in traffic going to Baguio City.

According to Drilon, it took him over 11 hours to reach Baguio from his residence in San Juan.

Drilon took note of the alleged inefficiency of the tollways after it took him so long to reach Baguio.

Drilon yesterday narrated his ordeal, which was also experienced by many who went to Baguio City to celebrate Christmas.

“From San Juan to Baguio City, it took me eleven and a half hours because of the inefficiency of our toll system. I became confused with the NLEX, and SCTEX and so many TEXs, why is it so many are collecting toll from the motorists where only one should be collecting the entire toll?” Drilon said in Filipino over dzBB.

Drilon said the proper authorities should do something to ease the burden of motorists who are often slowed down due to the vehicle volume during the holidays.

“Something must be done about this. I am calling on the agency supervising these tollways. They should integrate the collection of the toll from one gate to another instead of a piecemeal basis.”

Drilon said he would file on Jan. 19 a resolution to look into the toll collection system at all expressways, and modify it in order to ease the burden of commuters and motorists.

“It was the first time I experienced this in going to Baguio,” he added.

Drilon went to Baguio City for the holidays last Friday and will return home today.

“I will personally look into this matter in the Senate. I will call a hearing exclusively for this purpose so that we could come up with a solution regarding this problem,” he said.

To get to the northern Luzon provinces, motorists have to pass through the NLEX, SCTEX and the newly constructed TPLEX.

Travel to Baguio from Manila has been trimmed to four hours only via NLEX-SCTEX and the TPLEX up to Urdaneta City. When completed, TPLEX ends in Rosario, La Union, shortening travel time by at least 15 minutes more. – With Christina Mendez, Artemio Dumlao