Reduce, suspend SLEx toll fees — senators

Nighttime gridlock on the northbound lanes of the South Luzon Expressway.  PHOTO / RICHARD A. REYES

SENATOR Sherwin Gatchalian on Monday proposed a toll fee holiday at the South Luzon Expressway {SLEx) to the Toll Regulatory Board (TRB) amid the daily traffic gridlock along the northbound portion of SLEx, the main artery connecting Metro Manila to Calabarzon.

The “carmageddon” has been caused by the closure starting September 24 of the outermost lane of SLEx’s at-grade level, just after the Alabang exit in Muntinlupa, to give way to the P10-billion, six-kilometer extension of Skyway in Metro Manila’s southernmost city.

A report published today in the Philippine Daily Inquirer said that on September 26 vehicular traffic backed up from Alabang to the Eton exit in Santa Rosa City, Laguna — a distance of 24 kilometers.

“To provide relief to those affected, I do recommend to slash or suspend the toll rates since they [toll operator] are causing the inconvenience because of their construction activities,” Gatchalian told reporters, according to the Inquirer.

As a state regulator, he said the TRB could on its own call for public hearings to discuss the possibility of a toll holiday.

The senator, however, said that any proposed adjustment in toll rates should be justified based on the complaint of motorists.

“[The TRB] should call for a hearing and then analyze how to provide relief to our motorists. I think that’s within the powers of TRB,” Gatchalian said.

An average of 370,000 vehicles use SLEx daily while around about 196,000 take the Skyway, according to the TRB.

Last week, Sen. Grace Poe asked TRB officials and the Department of Transportation during a Senate hearing to do something about the traffic problem on SLEx after personally receiving complaints from affected motorists.

She also told them to look into the possibility of reducing the toll during the construction of the Skyway’s extension from Barangay Cupang to Susana Heights in Barangay Tunasan, both in Muntinlupa, the Inquirer said.

“Motorists deserve to pay less for the trouble the gridlock is causing due to the extension project,” Poe said.

“With the procession-like flow of traffic, is it wrong to reduce toll fees for motorists?” she asked.