San Miguel Corp. (SMC) on Thursday said its toll roads will “soon go cashless” to help in the efforts to stop the spread of Covid-19, as contactless payments limit human interaction.
Ramon S. Ang, the company’s president, said the group will offer free installation of RFID stickers for vehicles that use its thoroughfares, namely: Skyway, Naia Expressway (Naiax), South Luzon Expressway (Slex), Southern Tagalog Arterial Road (Star Tollways), and the Tarlac-Pangasinan-La Union Expressway (TPLEx).
This, he said, is in response to the directive of the Land Transportation and Franchising Regulatory Board (LTFRB), which required all tollways to offer “free installation of RFID for vehicles using expressways, as a means to limit direct hand contact for toll payments and ensure social distancing measure.”
“We are committed to protecting motorists and our tollway operators and ensuring that everyone’s health is safeguarded by limiting personal contact and going 100 percent RFID on tollroads that we operate.”
Ang said the first phase of the cashless shift, which will start on October 15, will cover the elevated portions of the Skyway, Naiax, and Slex. The second phase, which will take effect in January 2021, will cover the at-grade sections of the three tollways as well as Star Tollways and TPLEX.
The free RFID installation areas are found in different sections of the SMC expressways.