METRO Pacific Tollways Corp. (MPTC) hopes the Toll Regulatory Board (TRB) will resolve its pending petitions for contractual tariff adjustments for two of the expressways that it operates today, Wednesday, noting that the seven-year pending hikes that it proposed would have little impact on inflation.
Rodrigo E. Franco, the company’s president, said his group’s petition—a total of 21-percent increase for both the North Luzon Expressway (Nlex) and the Manila-Cavite Toll Expressway (Cavitex)—involves a two-pronged strategy to reduce or avert its projected inflationary effect.
“We submitted a program to the regulator two months for a staggered increase—about 9 percent or 10 percent for the first year, and will go for about five years. The program also involves the exemption of food-delivery vehicles from the toll increase,” Franco said in a chance interview.
The toll regulator has not acted on the company’s three petitions for the rate increase for the Nlex, one filed in 2013, another in 2015 and one this year. The concession the company holds allows for toll adjustments every two years.
Petitions for adjustments for Cavitex—spread across three years—remained pending. Its concession provides for tariff increases every three years.
Due to this, the government is facing an arbitration case in Singapore over the foregone revenues of the two companies, which has reached the P9-billion mark, as of today, Franco said.
“We hope it will be approved in the upcoming board meeting on Wednesday,” Franco said. “Any adjustment on fare may have an impact on inflation, but we’ve proposed measures to mitigate the impact.”
Earlier, Transportation Secretary Arthur P. Tugade, who chairs the TRB, said the government is amendable to the staggered implementation of the toll hikes, noting the two groups have already “agreed in principle” for the dissolution of the arbitration case.
Meantime, Franco said his group will continue to develop the two expressways despite the delayed implementation of the toll rates, announcing the company is “boosting the service capacity of its expressways network to provide more convenient travel to the public.”
He said Nlex Corp., for example, is constructing new toll lanes in four toll plazas in Pampanga aimed at matching the rapid pace of the province’s traffic growth, including toll plazas located in San Fernando, Mexico, and Angeles.
Cavitex Infrastructure Corp., Franco added, is gearing up for the full opening of the Marina left-turn flyover, which will smoothen traffic flow by eliminating the existing traffic lights.
“All these enhancements are expected to be completed by the end of 2018,” he said during the company’s launch of its yearly “Safe Trip Mo, Sagot Ko” motorist assistance program for the coming All Saints’ Day.
The program, on its ninth year, will help enhance traffic management and toll collection services during holidays.
Starting Friday until November 5, the traffic management teams will adopt extended working hours to closely monitor and manage the expected high volume of vehicles in Balintawak, Mindanao Avenue, Bocaue, Sta. Ines, Tarlac, and Tipo toll plazas.
Additional patrol and incident response teams will also be deployed in critical areas to immediately assist motorists.
Additional toll collection points will be deployed to hasten the flow of traffic in toll plazas.
Aside from these, the company partnered with several groups to provide free calls, internet connectivity, drinking water, basic mechanic services, first-aid treatment, and towing services to its expressway users.
It has also implemented a “digital touchpoint” initiative, wherein motorists can schedule their trips based on live updates posted online.