A new GPS system of charging self-drive commuters adds
pressure to switch to public transport. Motorists to be hit in the
pocket again.
As one of the world’s most
expensive countries for car-owners, Singapore has started to test a
new satellite-tracking technology to tax vehicles on congested
roads.
The government plans to use the Global Positioning System (GPS)
to track cars on congested roads and highways and charge them
levies. If necessary, this may replace the current annual road
tax.
Satellite tracking will replace the current Electronic Road
Pricing (ERP) system that uses some 80 electronic gantries located
at various busy expressways and in the city centre.
The GPS trial began in May on a stretch of Woodlands Avenue 12
not far from the Causeway, said the Today newspaper,
quoting the Land Transport Authority (LTA).
The replacement of road gantries would happen in the space of 18
months, it added.
When operational, the new technology can change the travel
habits of nearly a million motorists in the republic as well as
visiting Malaysian drivers.
This new form of charging motorists may make it even more
expensive to use a car in Singapore. For the state Treasury, it
will be a more effective source of revenue.
It will be a step closer to the day when operating a car in
space-challenged Singapore will be out of reach of the middle
class.
The new system’s other capabilities include better traffic
control like catching speeding vehicles and those which beat red
lights, spotting illegal parking or tracking hit-and-run
drivers.
It can help find stolen cars, assist police in solving certain
types of crimes, and aid in tracking offenders.
The Straits Times, however, warned: “Singaporeans will
have to watch not only their back, but high in the sky whenever
they think of committing a traffic offence.”
The authorities can also – if they want to – use it to keep
track of the movements of political foes.
“Big Brother will be watching you!” exclaimed one blogger.
A web surfer said it would really bring things to a whole new
level: “In future your car would be watched every hour of the day,
seven days a week. And that’s just plain creepy.”
A transport official mentioned no launch date, but said these
are still early days. It could be a few years before all problems
are ironed out and the system becomes fully operational.
He said: “(The trial area) Woodlands Avenue 12 is a suitable
site as it is a relatively straight road with high traffic volumes,
and a good mix of different vehicle types.”
The way our population is expanding, there is little prospect of
the motorist avoiding the move away from the car to public
transport, however crowded it may be.
It does not augur well for the aged, the sick and the
handicapped. Official projections see the population reaching 6.5
million, but land space will remain the same.
A plethora of taxes, some uniquely designed in Singapore to
reduce the car population and private car usage, has succeeded well
in two areas – cutting traffic jams and lightening the burden on
Singaporean pockets.
There are few countries where buying and operating a car is more
expensive than in Singapore. Any elected government that tries the
same measures will be out the door in the next election.
As a result, Singapore has only 12 cars per 100 people, half of
Hong Kong’s 24.
The taxes imposed on private cars in Singapore are so devilishly
complex that it would take a whole chapter to list them and explain
how they work.
The purchasing costs include these mind-boggling factors:
registration fee, cost price, road tax, COE (certificate of
entitlement), additional registration fee and Customs duty.
Understandably, many Singaporean buyers do not fully understand
them; they simply pay – and grumble.
Increasingly, young professionals are emigrating to countries
where cars are a lot cheaper.
Here, a medium-sized 1,600cc Japanese car costs around S$120,000
(RM300,031), enough to buy a bungalow in many Asian countries. This
is twice the price 18 months ago following a surge in COE
prices.
How the government intends to operate the GPS system is anyone’s
guess. But it will have more options than the current gantry
technology.
For example, it may impose a road levy charging the motorist
according to mileage covered, the time of usage or the location –
or any combination of the three.
If it replaces the flat annual road tax, it could mean that the
charge meter could start running the moment the owner drives his
car out of his house.
“Under satellite tracking every time he drives to the corner
coffee shop for a toast-and-egg breakfast, he pays for using the
road,” a veteran taxi driver explained.
An advantage is that he may no longer pay an annual road tax,
which could benefit infrequent motorists.
In time, the GPS method of charging may become even more
unpopular than the current electronic gantry system.
Some people believe it would be implemented either long before
or after 2016, the next general election.
The whole thing is part of the government’s strategy to get
Singaporeans out of their cars and into public transport.
City planners want 70% of peak-hour trips by Singaporeans to be
on trains and buses eventually.
The way to do it is to hit commuters in the pocket.
Years ago, an enthusiast who ran a special car blog estimated
that a Singaporean must earn S$7,650 (RM19,125) a month to be able
to buy and operate a car without financial stress.
At that time, the average family income was S$7,000 (RM17,500) a
month.
That led to his conclusion that “a car has become a luxury item
in Singapore”.
.
Seah Chiang Nee
Chiang Nee has been a journalist for 40 years. He is a
true-blooded Singaporean, born, bred and says that he hopes to die
in Singapore. He worked as a Reuters corespondent between 1960-70,
based in Singapore but with various assignments in Southeast Asia,
including a total of about 40 months in (then South) Vietnam
between 1966-1970. In 1970, he left to work for Singapore Herald,
first as Malaysia Bureau Chief and later as News Editor before it
was forced to close after a run-in with the Singapore Government.
He then left Singapore to work for The Asian, the world’s first
regional weekly newspaper, based in Bangkok to cover Thailand and
Indochina for two years between 1972-73. Other jobs: News Editor of
Hong Kong Standard (1973-74), Foreign Editor of Straits Times
with reporting assignments to Asia, Europe, Africa, the Middle East
and The United States (1974-82) and Editor of Singapore Monitor
(1982-85). Since 1986, he has been a columnist for the Malaysia’s
The Star newspaper. Article first appeared in his blog,
http://www.littlespeck.com.
.
