The Toll Regulatory Board (TRB) clarified on Tuesday that the exclusive use of Skyway Stage 3 for Class 1 vehicles is a “temporary safety measure pending construction.”
TRB Executive Director Alvin Carullo also explained that the government did not issue any policy that bars public-utility vehicles (PUVs), such as buses and trucks, from using tollways.
He cited, for instance, the availability of toll roads North Luzon Expressway (Nlex) and South Luzon Expressway (Slex) for PUVs.
“The ‘Class 1 vehicles only’ is a temporary traffic scheme which will only be implemented until such time that the Skyway Southbound Ramp Extension is completed. The Temporary Steel Ramp located at the Alabang Viaduct is steep and narrow thus it may impose safety hazard to other motorists if a Class 2 vehicle will be allowed to use the same at this time,” Carullo said.
He explained that while Skyway was built to handle Class 3 vehicles, a possible “driver error” makes it risky for such vehicles. He said in 2011, a bus fell off a Skyway section in 2011, which resulted in “stricter implementation of traffic rules.”
“Further, based on the previous incidents reported, Once a Class Two or Three vehicle is stalled in the elevated section, it is quite challenging to clear out the area and have the stalled vehicle be removed from the said facility,” Carullo said.
On Monday, Move As One Coalition, a group of transport groups and advocates, asked the Department of Transportation (DOTr) for the “revision of a policy on tollways to allow public transport vehicles to use expressways.”
Image courtesy of Roy Domingo