Traffic volume on the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEX) reached a record high last April 4, Easter Sunday, when the number of vehicles passing through the tollway, measured in terms of toll cash transactions, totaled 39,555.

This was 15% higher than the 34,421 cash transactions registered on Easter 2009, according to statistics released by the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA), builder and concessionaire of the SCTEX.

Nearly 94 kilometers long, SCTEX is the country’s longest expressway. Linking the three major economic zones of Central Luzon–the Subic Bay Freeport Zone, the Clark Freeport Zone and the Central Techno Park in Tarlac–it has made travel between Metro Manila and Central and Northern Luzon faster and more convenient.

“The traffic volume record posted during the last Holy Week proves that a growing number of motorists now realize the benefits they gain in using the SCTEX,” Robert Gervacio, SCTEX program manager and spokesperson said. “Not only do they get to their destinations faster, travel becomes safer and more comfortable.”

With thousands of motorists leaving Metro Manila to go to pilgrimage sites or to their favorite vacations spots, traffic volume increases sharply during Holy Week.

This year, from Holy Wednesday to Easter, 171,767 toll cash transactions were recorded in SCTEX. This represented a 14% improvement from the 150,041 total registered for the same five-day period in 2009.

Measured on a daily basis, the 37,246 cash transactions posted on April 3, Black Saturday, is SCTEX’s second largest so far, bettered only by Easter Sunday’s record high. This marked a 6% rise from the previous year’s 35,156 cash transactions.

However, the highest percentage increase was recorded on March 31, Holy Wednesday, when toll cash transactions reached 36,800 which exceeded by 21% the 30,384 transactions recorded on the same day in 2009.