Heads Up: NLEX Toll Hike Starts May 18

Don’t be surprised to pay just a bit more when you’re driving through the North Luzon Expressway (NLEX) starting Tuesday (May 18). NLEX Corp is implementing the toll price increase after the Toll Regulatory Board granted its petition to collect an additional “two to three percent.” 

Class 1 vehicles in the open system will pay an additional P2, while the toll will rise by P6 for those traveling the entirety of NLEX (closed system). Meanwhile, Class 2 vehicles such as buses and small commercial trucks will pay an additional P3 in the open system, and P14 for the closed system. Finally, Class 3 vehicles (large trucks) will shell out an extra P4 for the open system and P16 for the closed system.

The open system of the highway is composed of the Mindanao Ave., Valenzuela, Meycauayan, and Marilao exits, while the closed system starts at the Bocaue exit in Bulacan and ends at the Sta. Ines exit in Pampanga.

The price adjustments are part of the approved periodic adjustments due in 2012 and 2014, when both the NLEX Corp and the TRB agreed to implement it on a staggered basis to ease the burden on motorists.

To justify the increase, NLEX Corp highlighted its efforts to improve and maintain the expressway, including upgrading of the roadway lights on a 33-kilometer stretch from Bulacan to Pampanga, the deployment of a cashless toll collection system, and the safety repairs of some of its bridges. 

Soon to come are the extension of the expressway through the eight-kilometer NLEX Connector, which will link the northern provinces to España in Manila via the Harbor Link, and improvement works on the five-kilometer Candaba Viaduct. 

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