With many motorists still clueless of RFID usage policies
NANCY TO TOLL OPERATORS: PRINT PRIMERS, HOLD MASSIVE INFO DRIVE
...renews call for extension of registration for cashless system

Senator Nancy Binay today called on toll operators to intensify their education and information drive to increase public awareness on the usage of RFID cashless toll system amid the many technical issues that confront motorists.

"Ang tingin ng marami may pagkukulang sa information dissemination. Di lahat aware sa mga posibleng kaharaping problema both RFID and non-RFID users, or kung may naka-post ba na pag bumaba ng certain amount yung load eh maaantala sila sa toll booth. Maraming nagkaka-problema dahil nga hindi sila aware," Binay pointed out.

The senator renewed her call to the Department of Transportation to consider extending the deadline for mandatory cashless payments in toll expressways until the end of February 2021.

"Sa dami ng technical issues like errors in registering, balance check problems, reloading issues, hotline troubles, etc., the disjointed systems of toll operations compound the RFID chaos and confusion. Yung awareness at impormasyon yung kulang. Clueless pati mga motorista galing ng probinsya. Having an RFID sticker doesn't guarantee a smooth entry or exit. It seems having enough load is more important," Binay noted.

Since December 1, motorists with insufficient load played a bigger part in the toll plaza bottlenecks, as reports of traffic jams reached in toll expressways reached a high point over the weekend.

"Inuulit natin ang panawagan sa DOTr na baka maaaring i-extend ang deadline para mabigyan ng sapat na oras ang registration ng mga sasakyan at pag-aayos sa lahat ng gusot sa sistema," Binay said.

The government implemented mandatory cashless transactions on expressways on December 1, but allowed for dedicated lanes for the installation of RFID tags on vehicles still without them.

The senator added that both the government and toll operators should come up with a massive information campaign to help motorists understand the requirements.

"Mga concerns like magkano ba ang minimum load, kailan at saan ang registration, atbp. While I understand na mayroon nang nilabas na information tungkol dito in the past months, there's nothing wrong with repeating, and distributing flyers and primers, and taking a targeted approach to hammer home the message," Binay said.

She emphasized that the information campaigns should be properly targeted to ensure they are not ignored by their intended recipients.

In other countries, motorists only use a single, system-integrated RFID sticker, box or card that can be used on any car being used.

"Actually, sa ibang bansa, di kailangan bumili ng dalawang RFID o lagyan lahat ng sasakyan. Pwede na isang card o sticker since babayaran mo naman ang toll pag dumaan ka."