Nov 9, 2007
Higher CTE charges keep traffic jams
at bay - for now
Straits Times road test finds driving speeds comfortable even
during rush hour
Straits Times Online, The
(Singapore)
By Maria Almenoar
CTE, PIE, KPE, ECP.
For the longest time, these expressway initials have flashed past
Miss Q. Tian, 24, as she drives to work.
The banker, who lives in Thomson Road and works at Suntec City, has
been taking this longer route to avoid the chronic morning Central
Expressway (CTE) jams.
She is on the CTE briefly after leaving her home, instead of using
it all the way.
Another motorist arranges meetings after 10am and a third gets to
work way before the morning jam.
Motorists like them stay clear of the congestion and charges on
Singapore's most expensive stretch.
In a move to ease the morning congestion, CTE charges hit a record
high of $5 from Monday for motorists entering it via the Pan-Island
Expressway (PIE) slip road near Mar Thoma Road between 8.30am and
9am.
The Straits Times got onto the CTE via that slip road on Friday
morning. It found the higher charges may have - for now, at least -
eased the volume of traffic.
Several trips down the CTE from the PIE slip road (westbound) near
Mar Thoma Road at half-hour intervals from 7.30am to 10am found
traffic mostly smooth flowing.
The Straits Times was able to drive the 7km stretch to Havelock
Road at speeds of between 60kmh and 70kmh and complete the journey
in six minutes, except between 9am and 9.30am.
During that period, driving speed fell to just below 60kmh and the
journey took seven minutes.
A check with the Land Transport Authority (LTA) real-time traffic
monitoring map found that speeds never fell below 40kmh and were
mostly above 60kmh during the morning rush hour on the CTE.
It is not known if there were fewer motorists on Friday, which was
a day after the Deepavali holiday.
In raising the CTE charges, the LTA said average traffic volumes on
the expressway have grown steadily from 2001 to last year.
It wants to keep traffic speeds during peak hours within the
optimum range - 45kmh to 65kmh.
But Miss Tian, the banker who leaves for work at Suntec City before
8am, doubts the $5 charge will work after some time.
She said her route 'may seem convoluted but it saves me half the
time. Taking the CTE will take me about half an hour, but using the
other expressways takes me 15 minutes in total'.
But Miss Tina Ho, 27, a financial consultant who travels before 9am
to her work place in Tanjong Pagar, will stick to the CTE.
'I will pay if it means I can get to work faster,' said the
Serangoon North Avenue 1 resident.
Copyright © 2007 Singapore Press Holdings.
