theceomagazine.com | 101NLEx. At the time, it was one of the first
public–private partnership projects in the
Philippines. “It was also the time when the
financial crisis in Asia was being felt. There
were no banks that were willing to touch any
infrastructure project, let alone a toll road. It
was like a roller-coaster ride,” he recalls.
Ten years later, Metro Pacific Tollways
opened the NLEx to motorists. Current tolls
for using NLEx can vary depending on how
much of the expressway is used, ranging from
as low as 45 pesos to as high as 408 pesos.
While that may sound reasonable to most,
in a country where GDP per capita is
approximately 22 per cent of the world
average, it is still plenty of money to the
average Filipino.
“When it was a toll road that was being
operated by the government, it was under
the Philippine National Construction
Corporation, which is a government-owned-
and-controlled corporation. I think at that
time, the tolls were very low, maybe a few
pesos. When we opened the road in 2005,
the tolls the motorists had to pay increased
by about 400 per cent.”
However, in a city like Manila, notorious
for traffic congestion, a drive down a toll
road can result in significantly less travel time
than it would have taken otherwise. “If you
use NLEx, you can now reach Baguio from
Manila in about half the time – three and a
half hours, these days – compared with about
six or seven hours 10 years ago,” he says. In
that case, the benefit well and truly outweighs
the cost. That considered, Luigi believes it is
imperative the benefits of toll roads continue
being communicated to motorists. “We have
to let them know that when they use toll
roads, it will provide travel convenience as
well as a smooth and safe journey, so it can
become more widely accepted.” »