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THE charges for using the 42-kilometer, four-lane Star Tollway connecting Santo Tomas, Batangas, to Batangas City will go up by P5 starting July 10 to enable the road operator to recover its construction costs, an official said Monday.
The Toll Regulatory Board approved Star Infrastructure Development Corp.’s petition to raise the toll by 9 percent last week, agency spokesman Julius Corpuz said.
The new toll for Class 1 vehicles taking Star Tollway will be P60, up from P55. The new charges are P120 and P179 for Class 2 and Class 3 vehicles, up from P109 and P164, respectively.
Corpuz said the company had sought the increase in January, but the board waited for the infrastructure improvements before granting it.
He said Star Infrastructure spent P132 million for additional work on the expressway as requested by local governments in Batangas.
Those include the Santo Tomas toll plaza, which directly connects the expressway to Road 3 of the South Luzon Expressway in Batangas City, and two overpasses.
“The LGUs and the Public Works Department do not have the money [to build [the structures],” Corpuz said.
The expressway starts at the intersection with the Maharlika Highway in Santo Tomas and runs south, near Diversion Road, to Batangas City.
The toll board last week also approved the request of South Luzon Tollways Corp. for a 250-percent increase in its toll on the South Luzon Expressway, the tollway connected to Star Tollway through the 8-kilometer extension from Calamba to Santo Tomas, Batangas. The increase takes effect on June 30.
The board approved the increase after the operator completed its obligations, including major repairs and upgrades of the expressway.
For Class 1 vehicles, the new toll is P2.73 per kilometer, up from 75 centavos. This means the Alabang-Calamba toll will go up to P77 from P22.
For Class 2 and Class 3 vehicles, the new toll rates are P5.46 per kilometer and P8.19 per kilometer, respectively.
The new rates will increase the toll to P155 from P43, and to P232 from P65, for travel to Calamba from Alabang.
by Jeremiah F. de Guzman
This is a repost. click here for the source.
