TO provide peaceful travel and less stress to motorists and travelers during long holidays, like the Holy Week, Bataan Rep. Geraldine Roman has called on the government to expedite the planned integration of the toll collection system implemented by the current tollway operators in the country.

Roman stressed that if the collection of toll fees on NLEX, SLEX, and other tollways managed by San Miguel Corporation and businessman Manuel Pangilinan becomes completely centralized or unified, motorists and travelers will save a significant amount of time, resulting in more relaxed journey.

“Imagine if you weren’t bothered by long lines at the tollgates on your way to the vacation, wouldn’t your travel feel more pleasant and comfortable?” Roman, chairperson of the House committee on gender and equality, said.

Currently, travel on tollways in Metro Manila has slightly improved because the SMC-operated tollway RFIDs can now be used on Pangilinan-operated expressways while the accreditation of the Pangilinan RFIDs in SMC tollways is still being finalized.

In addition, toll collection has also been centralized for the interconnected SMC-operated tollways such as SLEX, MATES, and Startollways, so motorists entering the Skyway en route to Batangas only need to pay once.

The lawmaker also called on concerned agencies to explore the possibility of implementing a full non-contact payment system for passengers of provincial buses as a solution to the long queues in their ticketing offices during holidays.

“‘Pag maiksi pila mas konting abala,” Roman added.

To date, the contactless payment system in the Philippines is only available for P2P buses, EDSA Carousel, MRT, and LRT resulting to overcrowding at provincial bus terminals, particularly during long holidays such as Holy Week when government and private sector employees are automatically granted a four-day work break.

“Kasabay ng layunin ng gobyerno na i-modernize na ang mga public transport, napapanahon na rin para magkaroon ng maayos at iisang sistema para sa contactless payment system sa mga pampublikong sasakyan sa bansa,” he also said.

In this connection, the lawmaker is also pushing a measure that would ensure the safety not only for transport workers, but also for passengers.

In her proposed bill, the Magna Carta for Public Land Transport Workers, the government is tasked to create several agencies such as the Office of the Transport Cooperative, Presidential Public Land Transport Commission, and Public Land Transport Workers Confederation.

Having these in place will provide an extra safety measure for the government to easily monitor PUVs and transport workers that they are qualified to travel on the road.

“Ngayong Semana Santa, hiling natin ang matiwasay at ligtas ang biyahe ng bawat mananakay,” the lawmaker added.