ELECTRONIC Road Pricing (ERP) gantries - the steel gates that
levy tolls on motorists using crowded roads - may become
history.
In the near future, ERP fees may be charged using a satellite
system, called the global navigation satellite
system.
This system uses orbiting satellites to track moving vehicles,
the technology behind the global positioning system.
It is already being used to collect road tolls in other
countries, such as in Germany, where the toll for trucks using
expressways is based on distance travelled.
Transport Minister Raymond Lim said yesterday that Singapore is
looking at switching to such a system, because traffic congestion
is expected to become more widespread in future, making it
impractical to install more ERP gantries.
The Land Transport Authority (LTA) also said that making the
switch would save funds which would otherwise have been spent on
constructing gantries, which cost about $1.5 million each to
build.
Singapore has 66 operating gantries. Another 14 along the
Kallang-Paya Lebar Expressway are not in use yet.
The LTA will soon call a tender for technical proposals from
industry players, and will conduct various technical tests to
evaluate if the latest technologies are suitable for use here, Mr
Lim said.
Such trials include simulations of vehicle formations - such as
heavy vehicles alongside motorcycles, or cars under various weather
conditions - and high-speed tests, on routes that include
expressways and underground tunnels.
Mr Lim added that he expected the development and testing of the
technologies to take some years before a new system could be
launched.
He was speaking at the opening of the two-day World Urban
Transport Leaders Summit yesterday, where more than 300 delegates
from over 25 countries gathered to discuss ideas and ways of
transforming urban transport.
One of the speakers, Professor Anthony May, an emeritus
professor of transport engineering at Britain's University of
Leeds, suggested that drivers can be charged based on the distance
they roam within a congestion hot spot, instead of being charged a
flat fee upon entry.
This method of charging makes it fairer for drivers as they pay
for their mileage, he said.
For road users such as management assistant Firdaus Ramli, 24,
their topmost concern is whether more ERP points will pop up, with
the implementation of the new system.
He said: "For people like me who don't travel to the city much
for work, it's an inconvenience if ERP points appear along more
roads.
"I'd have to fork out an extra dollar or two, even though I work
in the heartlands."