AutoSweep, EasyTrip to start testing interoperability of RFIDs

What if you only needed one RFID sticker to be able to traverse all of Luzon's expressways? What if EasyTrip and AutoSweep were compatible with each other?

Right now that isn't the case (much to our frustration) but the Department of Transportation (DOTr) announced that the two tollway operators San Miguel Corporation and Metro Pacific Tollways Corporation will start to chip away at that issue. Both RFID systems are to start interoperability testing.

The DOTr says the interoperability testing of Autosweep and Easytrip will be conducted for 14 consecutive days and will involve 45 vehicles from different classifications. Participants will then be required to submit their test transaction reports and dashcam video recordings to the steering committee for validation and assessment. The committee will then determine the “read rate percentage or the system's performance indicator when comparing RFID infrastructure”.

“The test is part of the ongoing campaign by the DOTr, through the Toll Regulatory Board (TRB), to implement a policy of toll interoperability for the fast, efficient, and seamless travel of motorists along various toll roads, as the country continues to recover from the impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic,” said the DOTr in a statement.

At the moment, AutoSweep and EasyTrip still require individual tags to be used on their expressways. It is also possible to link an Easytrip account to your existing Autosweep account, but the opposite is not yet possible. Once the DOTr's Toll Interoperability Project Phase 2 is complete, vehicles can have just one RFID but still have two separate wallets or accounts.

Hopefully it won't take too long before interoperability between AutoSweep and EasyTrip is completed. These toll roads are called expressways and are meant to fast track travel, not hassle motorists.