BCDA: 10M vehicles expected to use SCTEx in 2011

The number of vehicles that will traverse the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway or SCTEx is expected to reach nearly 10 million this year, state-run Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) said Thursday. Last year, a total of 8,958,201 vehicles passed through the toll road, up by a quarter from 7,192,524 vehicles in 2009, according to Robert Gervacio, BCDA spokesperson and SCTEx program manager. Gervacio said the increase can be attributed to motorists' sentiments that they "can save travel time and experience stress-free driving" by using the SCTEx. He said the bulk of vehicles that used the toll road last year were cars, jeepneys, and other vehicles not more than seven-feet high. Toll revenues reached P625.6 million last year, up 24 percent from P506.2 million in 2009, according to Gervacio. Last year, the Toll Regulatory Board allowed the BCDA to jack up by a third the toll fees at SCTEx effective Jan. 1 this year. Opened in March 2008, the 94-kilometer SCTEx is the country's longest toll road. It is directly connected to the 84-km North Luzon Expressway (NLEx). Government data shows that some 158,000 vehicles use the NLEx everyday, while 160,000 ply the ground level of the South Luzon Expressway. — JE/OMG, GMA News