Motorists can now use EasyDrive stickers for a most convenient and speedy passage along the Cavite Expressway (CAVITEX), courtesy of the Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. (MPTC).

MPTC recently launched EasyDrive, a form of paper-thin battery –less sticker that uses radio frequency identification (RFID) technology. Each sticker has a specific identification number, thus effectively avoiding duplication.

MPTC president Ramoncito Fernandez said: “EasyDrive was a creation of MPTC’s research and development team, consistent with the company’s continuing innovation thrusts to attain the ultimate customer satisfaction in terms of tollway products and services.”

Initially, EasyDrive can be used in CAVITEX’S toll plazas in Paranaque City and Kawit, Cavite.
The use of EasyDrive is part of the on-going modernization of Cavitex.

Cavitex Infrastructure Corp. (CIC), builder of the Cavitex, in partnership with PLDT, have installed a fiber optic backbone along the expressway to host their ongoing systems upgrade related to toll collection, telecommunications, and security operations.

Other upgrades include the completion next of  their Toll Collection Migration which consists of the improvement of the telecommunication system, and installation of closed circuit television (CCTV) cameras that will enable the Traffic Control Room personnel to monitor round the clock goings on at the CAVITEX.
The MPTC EasyDrive, which can do rapid transactions at three to four seconds per vehicle, was designed to decongest the toll plazas on a 24/7 basis, hence, motorists need only to slow down, not make a full stop, to pay their tolls.

EasyDrive also served as a launch pad for radio frequency identification (RFID) technology in the country’s toll expressway industry.

RFID is widely used by modern toll roads in the United States, Canada, Taiwan, and some parts of Europe, according to CIC president Luigi Bautista.

“With proper care and installation, it will cost less than the existing conventional tollway tags in the domestic market, and will not require any replacement in the future,” Bautista said, adding that EasyDrive stickers could last for ten years.

EasyDrive stickers are available at the CAVITEX’s customer service centers in Paranaque for P200 for Class 1 cars, plus an initial minimum prepaid load of P200.

MPTC also mulls the use of EasyDrive at the NLEX for inter-operability purposes.