SMC opens 42 more RFID installation stations

MANILA, Philippines — San Miguel Corp. (SMC) targets to put up 156 radio frequency identification (RFID) installation stations before the end of the year as it transitions to the government-mandated cashless toll collection system.

The SMC said it has opened 42 new RFID stations, bringing to 95 the total number of installation outlets.

“Our bulk orders of RFID tags from abroad have been arriving as scheduled so we were able to gradually open more stations – 42 new ones as of last count,” SMC president and chief operating officer Ramon Ang said on Wednesday.

“An additional 61 outlets, mostly off-site, are underway and we will open all of these by end of December,” he added.

Ang said most of the active stations are located at toll plazas. Others are located at gas stations, customer service centers and transport terminals.

The SMC operates the South Luzon Expressway, Southern Tagalog Arterial Road, Skyway, NAIA Expressway and Tarlac-Pangasinan-La Union Expressway.

To provide convenience to motorists, especially non-frequent users of the SMC’s expressways, Ang said nearly all of the 61 remaining outlets to be opened would be located outside the expressways.

These include installation stations at more gas stations, transport terminals, malls, home builder complexes, local government offices, Land Transportation Office facilities, churches and other major arenas.

“We hear the clamor from the public to make RFID installation more accessible. We hope that these efforts will help make it easier for more people to avail themselves of free RFID stickers,” Ang said.

The SMC said it would maintain one cash lane per toll plaza so that vehicles with no RFID stickers would still be allowed entry and given Autosweep stickers.

This will also help ease traffic congestion at toll plazas, the SMC said.

Autosweep system has a 98-percent read rate and a detection range of up to five meters. It is also equipped with real-time loading, the company said.