CEBU CITY, Philippines — The Cebu Cordova Link Expressway (CCLEX) Bridge Management Board (BMB) is urging motorists traversing the expressway to prepare for the exact toll fee for faster transactions at the toll booths.
Engineer Ricky Dakay, the private sector representative of the board, said that based on the nearly a month after the opening of the CCLEX, traffic is often observed at the toll gates on the Cordova side.
As the toll booth is collecting cash only, for now, each transaction averages 7 to 8 seconds cycle time. If the motorist only brings the exact fare, this transaction could exactly be that.
Dakay said that seconds may seem inconsequential, but it matters to the traffic at the expressway especially when long lines of vehicles are lining up during rush hours.
If the motorist needs change, the delay reaches up to 5 seconds.
Although the CCLEX board does not have enough data yet to establish distinct daily rush hours, car volume naturally increases in the general morning rush hours and evening rush hours of Metro Cebu.
These times are usually from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. and 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. if based on the rush hours in Cebu City as provided by the Cebu City Transportation Office (CCTO).
Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama has also appealed to the CCLEX Corporation (CCLEC), the management of the expressway, for toll tellers to have enough change for transactions.
“It was observed by our Cebu City Mayor Rama, that in order to minimize traffic and hasten the cycle time at the toll plaza, to minimize cycle time, CCLEX toll tellers should have the available change to be readily handed to the motorists because it causes a four to five-second delay per cycle,” said Dakay.
The engineer notes that this problem is temporary as the CCLEC will start implementing the RFID system on July 2022, where vehicles need the RFID stickers to pay cashless at the toll booth.
The installation of RFID is currently free and CCLEC provides appointments at their website.
Once the cashless payment system begins, they expect a faster transaction time at the toll booth plaza.
Meanwhile, Dakay said the BMB is now working on a plan for setting up tourists stops where the public will be allowed to take pictures on the bridge.
The BMB understands that the bridge is the pride of Cebuanos and many locals and even tourists want to cross the bridge and take pictures.
However, the BMB needs to consider their safety, and so they are now discussing visita points along the bridge where possibly tourists and locals can pause and take pics.
As of now, taking pics on the bridge is highly discouraged because it can be dangerous for pedestrians to walk in the middle of the road.
Soon, CCLEX will also allow pedestrians into the expressway and any pedestrians are welcome to take pictures and tour the expressway within the pedestrian lane.
“If you are a pedestrian, there’s no problem, that is if you are willing to walk the 8.9 kilometers. This is still a working process. There are many suggestions that the local chief executives have given and we will take this into account one by one. We are still in the schematic planning, but all of these will be considered.”
“Cebu now has bragging rights to the longest bridge in the Philippines. Let’s all take advantage of this. It’s a pride and joy to us Cebuanos to have this iconic piece of infrastructure,” said Dakay. /rcg
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