With over 119 million motorists served last year, NLEX Corporation is continuing to elevate customer experience through its system enhancements and programs planned for 2022.
These include the installation of RFID early detection feature, installation and software upgrade of RFID card readers or contactless terminals, upgrade of system servers, and replacement of toll lane equipment — all aimed at improving the service to customers.
About 29 more toll lanes will be equipped with enhanced scanners for faster RFID detection and additional 50 toll lanes will have new contactless terminals where customers can tap their Easytrip card to process their RFID transactions. Once completed, a total of 217 toll lanes will now have RFID early detection features and 258 toll lanes with contactless terminals.
System servers will also be upgraded, while traffic control gates, as well as lane status and toll fare indicators in 187 toll lanes will be replaced for increased efficiency.
As part of its digital transformation, the tollway company, together with other business units of Metro Pacific Tollways Corporation (MPTC), will also launch this year an interactive chatbot system on its website and Facebook Messenger. This new service will help customers get instant answers to their basic inquiries.
“It is imperative for us to serve our customers well. We are innovating and adapting accordingly to improve our operations so we can provide customers with a quick and seamless experience both in our expressways and digital channels,” said J. Luigi L. Bautista, president and general manager of NLEX Corporation.
In addition, tollway frontliners such as lane associates, customer service personnel, and patrol crews will continue to undergo specialized trainings to level up their customer service.
Stakeholder relations programs such as regular dialogues, consultations, and surveys and other customer touchpoints will likewise continue to get feedback from customers to understand their needs and address their concerns.
At the close of 2021, the NLEX Corporation reported that of the over 119 million motorists that used the NLEX-SCTEX system, more than 63,000 of which were given assistance by tollway personnel when their vehicles experienced breakdown or when they got into accidents, providing them utmost service in times of need. It also reduced the average clearing time of obstructions during traffic incidents to 40 minutes from 42 minutes in 2020.
The increased visibility and prompt response of patrol crews were significant in easing the traffic flow during peak periods as traffic incidents were swiftly cleared. It can be noted that during last year’s Undas, NLEX-SCTEX emergency teams attended to 787 requests for assistance with an average response time of nine minutes.
Aside from these, the company completed the installation of RFID early detection features in 56 toll lanes and RFID card readers in 76 toll lanes.
The entire MPTC group also launched last year an improved customer account management system for RFID subscribers which enabled them to generate their own statement of account for monitoring and self-enroll in the automatic debit arrangement for easier load replenishment.
More quick-time reloading options were also introduced including the rollout of the country’s first toll top-up using mobile load in partnership with Smart Communications, where Easytrip RFIDs can be reloaded just by sending a text message using Smart and TNT mobile numbers. The company also launched the RFID account balance checking via SMS to further simplify customer access to their accounts.
NLEX Corporation is a unit of the Metro Pacific Tollways Corporation (MPTC), the toll road arm of the Metro Pacific Investments Corporation (MPIC).