Skyway returns to old toll payment scheme

The Skyway at the Amorsolo on-ramp looking south towards Magallanes (Photo By RioHondo at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0)

MANILA — Skyway has returned to its old toll payment scheme after motorists complained of heavy traffic caused by the opening of its new runway toll plaza and payment scheme.

Effective 10 p.m. Tuesday, Skyway has temporarily reverted to its old “pay as you enter” scheme for private vehicles coming from Alabang, Sucat, and Bicutan.

Only Class 2 vehicles, such as buses and delivery vans, will be required to utilize the Runway Toll Plaza for cash payments.

Skyway O&M Corp. apologized for any inconvenience caused by the new system and appealed for understanding from the public.

“As always, we continue to adjust to our motorists’ needs and that includes exploring better ways to implement this transition to a new toll collection system in the future. We still believe the new system can benefit a greater number of people over the long term,” the Skyway operator said in a statement.

Under the new payment scheme, which was implemented early this week, motorists should stop at two toll booths: the payment booth and the new toll booth where they will surrender their payment slips.

Vehicles with Electronic Toll Collection (ETC) Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) stickers coming from Alabang, Dr. A. Santos (Sucat), and Doña Soledad (Bicutan) used the RFID lanes at entry points and exit at the dedicated “ETC” lanes at the new toll plaza.

Vehicles using cash payment coming from Alabang and the South Luzon Expressway merely passed through the Alabang elevated toll plaza while their payments were processed at the Runway Toll Plaza’s new “Cash” lanes.

Vehicles from Sucat and Bicutan using cash payment continued to pay “upon entry” to mitigate excessive build-up at the new “Cash” lanes at the Runway Plaza.

Motorists from Sucat and Bicutan hand over the QR-coded stub attached to their receipts to the teller upon exiting at the “Cash” lanes of the new toll plaza.

The Skyway management said the new runway toll plaza was intended to facilitate faster toll collection and handle increased traffic volume.