Toll operators offer discounts amid fuel price hikes

Public utility vehicles (PUVs), public utility buses (PUBs), and freight service vehicles will get a two-month reprieve on tolls across major expressways starting Monday.

The Department of Transportation (DOTr) said toll operators agreed to offer relief and help ease the impact of rising oil prices to the transport sectors.

“Tollway Concessionaires/Operators expressed that they will voluntarily implement a temporary toll discount for essential transport sectors,” Toll Regulatory Board Executive Director Jay Art Tugade said in a letter to Acting Transportation Secretary Giovanni Lopez.

The relief targets Class 1 PUVs/jeepneys, Class 2 PUBs, and Class 3 vehicles involved in freight and logistics. 

Under the adjustment, Class 1 vehicles can save up to P18 per end-to-end trip, while Class 2 and Class 3 vehicles may save as much as P47 and P72 per trip, respectively. 

Toll rebates will be credited weekly to all qualified vehicles.

“This is a big help to our PUV drivers, commuters, as well as our consumers and business owners amid the current oil crisis we are facing,” Lopez said.

The discounts will initially run for two months and may be extended after review, offering both immediate relief to transport operators and indirect support to consumers through stabilized fares and goods prices.