Skyway MATES now giving away FREE RFID stickers to first 200,000 vehicles; E-Pass to be phased out by December 2015

In a not so public announcement, the Skyway MATES office recently revealed that they are presently giving away FREE RFID stickers to the first 200,000 vehicles who visit their office in Bicutan.

With the recent take over of San Miguel Corporation over the operation of Skyway, it is being reported that E-Pass holders will be able to use their devices only until the end of December this year.

During a visit to their Bicutan office last weekend, Alabang Bulletin found out that they are currently giving away RFID stickers on a first-come-first-serve basis to the first 200,000 vehicles (not motorists, take note).

Interested motorists just need to present a photocopy of their OR/CR, a photocopy of a valid ID and P500 for the initial load.

Present E-Pass holders will also be able to transfer their load to the new RFID sticker plus card should they want to convert to the RFID already.

Skyway MATES is looking at launching RFID by July this year.

Operations now are being called as “soft opening” or test run.

One motorist lining up also candidly said that the sticker, unlike the E-Pass device, may no longer be transferred from one vehicle to another.

“Before, we just had one E-Pass device which we brought with us to what car we were using,” said the Paranaque resident.

For those who won’t be able to avail of the offer of the FREE stickers, they can buy them for P300 at the Skyway Bicutan office.

According to people manning the office, they are presently looking at deploying more loading stations for the RFID stickers.

At present, one can only load at the Bicutan office but will be launching three more stations within the week.

Just a reminder for those with several vehicles. You need to bring all your vehicles to the office as Skyway MATES personnel will be the ones putting the stickers on your cars (inside the vehicle’s windshield for those with no or light tint and on the headlights for those with dark tints).

Waiting time per person is about 30 minutes to one hour or depending on the number of people applying for the RFID sticker.

Activation of the sticker is 20 to 30 minutes upon installation in your vehicles.

Information above is based on staff that were present during our visit to their office. No official memo or PR has been released by the Skyway SOMCO office.