Jan 12, 2008
5 new ERP gantries built outside city area
Mostly in residential areas, they will be activated only when
traffic flow worsens
By Christopher Tan, Senior Correspondent
MOTORISTS can expect to pay more to use the roads over the next few
months when five new ERP gantries - mostly in the heart of
residential areas - are up and running.
The gantries are in Upper Bukit Timah Road (outside Hume Park), Toa
Payoh Lorong 6, Upper Boon Keng Road, Kallang Bahru Road and
Geylang Bahru Road.
The Land Transport Authority (LTA) said these gantries will be
switched on when traffic flow falls below 'optimal speeds' -
defined as 45kmh to 65kmh for expressways and 20kmh to 30kmh for
non-expressways. Sources expect the ranges to be raised this year,
which means Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) could be implemented on
more roads - even in the evening.
Some residents are already voicing concern over why the new
gantries are in their neighbourhoods.
Commenting on the gantry outside Hume Park, Bukit Timah resident
Bervyn Lee, 43, said: 'The road here can get jammed. But will a
gantry solve the problem?
'My feeling is that it will just redistribute traffic around,' the
director of sports culture at the Singapore Sports Council
added.
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Where they are
Toa Payoh resident Tony Chan, 68, a retiree, wanted to know why the
Lorong 6 gantry was at the entrance to the residential area.
The LTA spokesman said the new gantry plugs a gap in an outer ERP
cordon that seals off non-expressway routes into the city. He said
if gantries were at exit points of Toa Payoh, more residents in the
estate would be affected.
But the spokesman added that 'the new gantries are built because
traffic conditions on these identified roads may soon deteriorate
below the optimal speed range'.
When the new ones are operational, the motoring public will have
more than 60 gantries to navigate. Indications are that more will
come as the Government shifts the taxation burden from vehicle
ownership to usage.
Gantries in the residential heartland will also have an impact on
those who take taxis.
Cabbies tend to avoid ERP-controlled roads because of the extra
cost incurred. Hence residents in Toa Payoh, for instance, might
find it difficult to hail a cab in the morning when the Lorong 6
gantry is switched on.
'To many drivers, ERP is a big deterrent,' said cabby Myke Purba,
62.
