No toll fees in SMC tollways on Christmas, New Year holidays

MANILA: The South Luzon Expressway (SLEX), Skyway, NAIA Expressway, Tarlac-Pangasinan-La Union Expressway, and STAR Tollway will all be toll-free on Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve — according to a statement from toll operator San Miguel Corporation (SMC).

The SMC toll holiday timetable will look like this:

SMC toll holiday schedule

• December 24, 10 p.m. to December 25, 6 a.m..
• December 31, 10 p.m. to January 1, 6 a.m..

Additionally, SMC will keep up with its Seamless Southern Tollways project throughout the holiday season because it anticipates traffic to get worse soon. The organization also suggests that drivers make travel plans in advance and steer clear of congested times.

The Seamless Southern Tollways aims to save drivers’ time in traveling in both directions from having to make several toll stops on the toll highways.

Previously, drivers heading to Southern Luzon had to stop for tolls and deal with traffic jams at Calamba, Greenfield, and Sto. Tomas toll plazas on the South Luzon Expressway (SLEX), and the Southern Tagalog Arterial Road (STAR) exit near Tomas in Batangas.

The current plan requires southbound drivers traveling from the north to Batangas to stop five times: once at the Del Monte Skyway 3 toll plaza, once each at the Calamba, SLEX Greenfield, and Sto. Tomas toll booths before arriving at the exit.

Ramon S. Ang, president of San Miguel Corporation, stated that the initiative, on which the infrastructure division of the company has been working since early this year, will effectively speed up travel on STAR, SLEX, and the entire Skyway system (Stages 1, 2, and 3).

According to Ang, the new scheme will only have two toll stops and require stops at the entry and exit points. The Skyway main plaza and the exit point are the only places where payment pauses are allowed in the new northbound toll arrangement. Toll plazas in the middle will be pass-throughs.

No toll rates have changed, according to SMC, but the fees that were previously collected at the toll stops that were deleted will now be added to the total fees that will be collected at the exit point.

The first quarter of 2023 is slated for the integration of the Seamless system to the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Expressway.

Photos from San Miguel Corporation

Also read: Easytrip tags can be used on Autosweep tollways on Jan. 15, 2023