Skyway holds public consultation on proposed toll rates
SKYWAY REPORTS. Citra Metro Manila Tollways Corporation (CMMTC) and Skyway O&M Corporation recently held another public consultation, this time for Parañaque and Muntinlupa, on the progress of the Skyway Stage 2, including the proposed new initial toll rates. The well-attended meeting included key officials from the homeowners' associations, local government units with their police and traffic management departments, as well as officials from the Department of Public Works and Highways, the Toll Regulatory Board and the Metro Manila Development Authority. Top photos shows CMMTC deputy chief executive officer Dodik Marseno Catur Utomo announcing that the Skyway extension to Alabang can be operational than the original May 2011 schedule. Above photo shows SOMCO head of special operations Eduardo Nepomuceno discussing how the new Skyway will help motorists save on fuel and time.
South Metro Manila Skyway Project developer, Citra Metro Manila Tollways Corporation (CMMTC), and Skyway operator, Skyway O&M Corporation (SOMCO), recently held last February 22, 2011 a public consultation on the completion and opening of Skyway Stage 2 project from Sucat to Alabang, the integration of Skyway’s Stage 1 and Stage 2, and the Skyway’s new toll fees.
During the meeting, CMMTC Deputy Chief Executive Officer, Dodik Marseno Catur Utomo announced that Skyway Stage 2 is 92% complete as of February 15, 2011, and that it will be substantially completed and ready to open by end of March, ahead of its May 2011 target schedule. Barring any circumstances beyond its control, CMMTC hopes to open the Skyway extension to Alabang immediately in April, in time for summer vacation. SOMCO’s head of special operations, Ed Nepomuceno presented the proposed new initial toll rates that CMMTC and SOMCO submitted for review last month to the Toll Regulatory Board (TRB). With the condition that CMMTC gets a 6-year income tax holiday (ITH) incentive from the Board of Investments (BOI), the proposed toll rate from Makati to Alabang will be P143 on the elevated section and P104 on the at-grade. Without the ITH, it will be P169 on the elevated and P123 on the at-grade. The last time Skyway toll rates were simultaneously adjusted upwards by the TRB was over four years ago, in January 2007.
Nepomuceno explained that the increased road capacity that the new 6.88-km. elevated tollway will provide and other improvements now being done on the Stage 1 will make travel on the elevated and at-grade sections of the Skyway System faster, safer and more comfortable. Many of those present at the public consultation agreed that without the new Skyway, motorists would be stuck for hours in traffic and spend more money on fuel, lose time that should have been used to be productive or make money, and suffer from stress-related ailments. Nepomuceno also clarified concerns regarding the recent monthly increases at the neighboring SLEX tollroad by stating that the Skyway’s new initial toll rates will be implemented throughout the rest of year 2011 and that there will be no monthly increases to follow.
Officers and representatives of the Barangay Marcelo Green, Barangay Don Bosco, Barangay Buli, the Federation of Homeowners Associations of Brgy. Sucat, the Federation of Homeowners Associations of Brgy. Don Bosco, the Ayala-Alabang Village Association, the City Engineer’s Office of Parañaque and Muntinlupa, the traffic management bureaus of Parañaque and Muntinlupa, and the newly-appointed Parañaque PNP Chief Col. Nestor Pastoral attended the consultation meeting. Officers of government agencies concerned like the Department of Public Works and Highways, the Metro Manila Development Authority and the Toll Regulatory Board were also present.
