DOTr chief stops full cashless tollway collection

Calling it "anti-poor," newly appointed Transportation Secretary Vince Dizon has suspended the implementation of full cashless collection across all tollways that was supposed to start on March 15.

- By HELEN FLORES

Speaking to Palace reporters on his first day as transportation chief, Dizon said he directed the Toll Regulatory Board (TRB) to defer its order mandating full contactless transactions across expressways.

"There was an announcement from the TRB that NLEX (North Luzon Expressway) and SLEX (South Luzon Expressway) will go cashless. OK, I'm telling you right now I already told TRB to suspend that," Dizon said at a press briefing, a few hours after taking his oath of office before President Marcos at Malacañang.

In a statement on Feb. 14, the TRB - an attached agency of the Department of Transportation (DOTr) - said motorists using the expressways need to have an RFID sticker on their vehicles by March 15.