Sad but true, another NLEX Toll Fee increase effective tomorrow, March 2, 2025
Yes, that’s right, folks. After its announcement on February 27, the NLEX Toll Fees will get a hike beginning tomorrow, March 2, 2025. The Toll Regulatory Board published the advisory about the price adjustment just a few days ago. Now, we bring you a clearer picture of what to expect once you take the North Luzon Expressway, the Connector, and SCTEX. Get your cash money and those RFID tags installed and loaded, ladies and gents!
New and higher NLEX toll fees to be collected starting March 2, 2025
Photo: Toll Regulatory Board
As we can see, it should not come as a surprise; well, at least not that much. The advisory you see above was published on the Toll Regulatory Board’s official social media page just this past February 27, a mere 2 days before the implementation of the new and higher NLEX toll fees. As a backgrounder, though, this hike is not unfounded nor baseless.
Periodic toll rate adjustments were (provisionally) approved as early as 2022, and this year, only half of the 1st tranch of the said adjustments have been collected. To recoup the cost of the 3rd Candaba Viaduct as well as other “overhead” and operational expenses, a rise in toll fees is inevitable, unavoidable.
Photo: NLEX Corp.
All that said, the NLEX toll fees will be adjusted by PHP 5.00USD 0.09INR 8EUR 0.08CNY 0.63 in what’s called the Open System and by PHP 0.72USD 0.01INR 1EUR 0.01CNY 0.09 per kilometer in the Closed System. Here is the breakdown and explanation according to the Toll Regulatory Board:
- Open System (Balintawak, Caloocan, Mindanao Ave to North of Marilao), motorists will pay an additional PHP 5.00USD 0.09INR 8EUR 0.08CNY 0.63 for Class 1, PHP 13.00USD 0.22INR 20EUR 0.21CNY 2 for Class 2, and PHP 15.00USD 0.26INR 23EUR 0.25CNY 2 for Class 3
- Closed System, (North of Marilao to Sta. Ines, Mabalacat City), motorists will pay an additional PHP 52.00USD 0.90INR 78EUR 0.85CNY 7 for Class 1, PHP 129.00USD 2INR 194EUR 2CNY 16 for Class 2, and PHP 156.00USD 3INR 235EUR 3CNY 20 for Class 3
- At Subic-Tipo, an additional PHP 7.00USD 0.12INR 11EUR 0.12CNY 0.88 for Class 1, PHP 18.00USD 0.31INR 27EUR 0.30CNY 2 for Class 2, and PHP 21.00USD 0.36INR 32EUR 0.35CNY 3 for Class 3 will be collected from the motorists
- Those traveling NLEX end to end (Metro Manila to Sta. Ines, Mabalacat City) will pay an additional PHP 57.00USD 0.98INR 86EUR 0.94CNY 7 for Class 1, PHP 142.00USD 2INR 214EUR 2CNY 18 for Class 2, and PHP 171.00USD 3INR 258EUR 3CNY 21 for Class 3
Photo: DOTr
It’s not easy having to build, operate, and maintain infrastructures such as highways, tollways, and expressways. There will always be something new to improve and fix, and in this case, it’s only with the increase of the NLEX toll fees that any of these can be done.
We do get a measure of convenience and faster travel times, so let’s take this as a “standard”, that we will wake up one day – another day – with a new announcement that the toll fees we’ve only just gotten used to are going to go up. The only thing that’s permanent is change, indeed, and that includes how much we pay to use everything that is “NLEX”.
