Heavy traffic welcomes motorists on 1st day of paid use at Skyway Stage 3

Motorists experienced various inconveniences at the Skyway Stage 3  yesterday (Monday, July 12) — the first time toll was implemented after almost seven months of free use.

In various reports, Skyway Operations and Maintenance Corporation President and Chief Executive Officer Manuel Bonoan cited that the heavy traffic flow was caused by many motorists still getting used to the payment scheme in the elevated tollway system.

Motorist Antonette Meude (who used the Skyway Stage 3 in the morning), said that many motorists still have no RFID installed on their vehicles for the Skyway 3. She also claimed that with the congested traffic, she was able to reach Buendia from Nagtahan in about an hour.

“Today (Tuesday, July 13), my trip was faster when I did not take the Skyway Stage 3 after immediately seeing the traffic buildup there,” she added.

To note, Skyway 3 (which connects South Luzon Expressway [SLEX> and North Luzon Expressway [NLEX>) is under San Miguel Corporation and collects toll fees via the Autosweep RFID system. This is a different toll collection system used in NLEX, which is under Metro Pacific Tollways Corporation, which utilizes the Easytrip system.

Late last year, the Department of Transportation revealed that tollway operators signed a memorandum of agreement for the interoperability of payment systems.

Last week, SMC announced that the Skyway Stage 3 will be limited to Class 1 vehicles that have Autosweep RFID stickers. 

Meanwhile, Billy Billano, who used the Skyway 3 Stage 3 Monday afternoon, shared to Carmudi Philippines that many of the RFID scanners failed to quickly scan those installed in the cars of motorists. This is aside from other issues, such as motorists having low or no credit left in their Autosweep accounts.

Earlier, MMDA Chairman Benhur Abalos urged motorists to also use Mabuhay Lanes in anticipation of the volume of vehicles that will use EDSA again for the daily commute.

SMC claimed that upon completion, the projected travel time for the whole stretch will only be at around half and from usual three hours or more. The group also claimed that Magallanes to Balintawak will only take about 15 minutes, Balintawak to NAIA also only 15 minutes, and Valenzuela to Makati in just 10 minutes.

Photos from Antonette Meude, Billy Billano

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