NLEX, SCTEX, TPLEX to conduct interoperability testing of AutoSweep and EasyTrip RFIDs

The Department of Transportation (DOTr) announces that the SMC TPLEX Corp. (SMCTC), the Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. (MPTC), and the NLEX Corp. (NLEX) will conduct testing for the interoperability of their cashless payment systems. This initiative also aims to determine the Read Rate Percentage of the AutoSweep and EasyTrip RFIDs, which will be used in the major expressways in Luzon.

The 14-day interoperability testing will occur on North Luzon Expressway (NLEX), Tarlac-Pangasinan-La Union Expressway (TPLEX), and Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEX).

A subsidiary of the San Miguel Holdings Corporation, toll concessionaire, and TPLEX operator SMCTC uses the AutoSweep RFID tag. Meanwhile, MPTC, which handles NLEX and SCTEX, uses the EasyTrip RFIDs for cashless toll collection.

The test is part of the ongoing campaign by the DOTr, through the Toll Regulatory Board (TRB), to implement a policy of toll interoperability for the fast, efficient, and seamless travel of motorists along various toll roads, as the country continues to recover from the impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

“We are grateful to our private partners who have demonstrated their unparalleled support in this project. We need their assistance to fast-track the necessary measures to fully implement toll interoperability. Hindi ‘ho namin ito kakayanin mag-isa. Tulung-tulong ‘ho tayo muli. At dahil sa kinakaharap nating pandemya, kailangan ‘ho nating bilisan ang programang ito,” DOTr Transport Secretary Arthur Tugade said.

An AutoSweep RFID sticker will be activated using an EasyTrip account, and an EasyTrip RFID sticker will be activated using an AutoSweep account. The test will involve 45 vehicles that will be equally composed of different vehicle classifications. After the test, the participants should submit their test transaction reports and dashcam video recordings to the steering committee for validation and assessment. The steering committee will then be given five days to compare the RFIDs and determine the read rate percentage from the submission date.

The Toll Collection Interoperability project was initially launched in 2017 to “timely, smoothly, and fairly implement the interoperability of the electronic toll collection (ETC) systems.”

Source: DOTr Facebook