ERP rates in CBD to go up, 5 new gantries added
By Asha Popatlal, Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 17 June 2008 1925
hrs
SINGAPORE: About half of existing ERP gantries islandwide will
see their rates increase from July 7.
The electronic road pricing (ERP) rates for 32 of 65 gantries
will increase by between 50 cents and S$2.00. The gantries are
primarily in the Central Business District (CBD) and Orchard
Road.
Five new ERP gantries along the Singapore River will also be
activated on July 7.
Traffic in the CBD is slowing down, said the Land Transport
Authority (LTA). So in January, as part of its Master Plan, the LTA
came up with a new way to measure speed.
It is called the 85th percentile method - this is when
motorists experience smooth traffic at least 85 percent of the time
on roads that have ERP gantries.
Another new LTA initiative is for bigger ERP rate
increases because, LTA said, motorists are less sensitive to the
existing rate structure.
In addition, ERP operating hours in the CBD will be extended by
one hour on weekdays - from 7pm to 8pm - while gantries in the
Orchard Road cordon will start an hour earlier on Saturdays, at
11am.
To reduce congestion further, LTA is putting in five new
gantries along the Singapore River.
This essentially divides the CBD into two parts - the
predominantly shopping-commercial district around the Bugis-Marina
area and the office-based areas in Robinson Road.
LTA hopes that these gantries, which run from Eu Tong Sen Street
to Fullerton Road, will cut down on what they call "through
traffic".
LTA's chief engineer for transportation, Dr Chin Kian Keong,
said: "The gantries along the Singapore River will deal with
traffic passing through. They (some motorists using the roads) are
not destined for that part of the city, but merely passing through
to get to other parts of Singapore. If we can discourage some of
these trips from city roads, traffic levels on these roads will
become better."
Currently, a third of all traffic in the area is what
LTA calls "through traffic" and LTA hopes to cut this by half, with
the new ERP gantries.
Five of these gantries will operate from Mondays to Fridays from
6pm to 8pm daily. Two of them will also operate in the day on
Saturdays.
The gantries at Fullerton Road, Eu Tong Sen Street, New Bridge
Road and South Bridge Road will operate on weekdays from 6pm to
8pm. Motorists will pay $2 from 6pm to 7.30pm and $1 from 7.30pm to
8pm.
Gantries at Fullerton Road and Eu Tong Sen will also operate
from 12.30pm to 8pm on Saturdays and motorists will have to pay
$2.
More changes may be coming up. In November, LTA will
again use its new criteria to review gantry rates within and up to
the outer cordon. And in February next year, LTA will look at all
other gantries islandwide.
The question many motorists may have is "why is the
government increasing the ERP rates now?", considering that there
is a freeze on all government fees till the end of the
year.
The Transport Ministry said things like the ERP rates
are excluded from the freeze and that traffic congestion, left
unchecked, will have a negative effect on the economy. -
CNA/ir
