The ERP Issue

Flip to the "Home" section of The Straits Times, and you'll probably find reports on Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) in Singapore. Many Singaporeans have also written in to the forum to express their views on this issue. I would like to voice out my comments below.

The recent spike in the number of ERP gantries and the rise in ERP rates islandwide have led to a new round of heated debate on the usefulness and need of the ERP to "ease traffic congestion on major roads in Singapore", as termed by the transport ministry monitoring the roads in Singapore. Personally, I feel that ERP is a double-edged sword, with the stands for and against it both having their own convincing arguments.

The aim of the transport ministry setting up ERP is to alleviate the traffic jams often seen during the peak hours on major expressways and roads. With its implementation, city traffic has been slightly smoother. From another perspective, the main asset of the ERP is that it actually protects the environment. The taxing of vehicular usage by ERP, coupled with improvements to public transport, is likely to discourage people from driving their own cars, or even not give a thought to buying a car. These people will instead patronize the public transport services to get to their destinations. As a result, impact on the environment is lesser as there will be fewer vehicles on the road; vehicular emissions are a major source of air pollutants and the carbon dioxide given off will lead to global warming. Another advantage of using public transport frequently instead of driving is that citizens can save money.

However, public transport is less comfortable and slower than driving a personal car. Furthermore, some people's jobs require them to use their own cars. Take mu uncle as an example. His works as a salesman and needs to deliver here and there. It is not feasible for him to switch to using public transport. Imagine. It is so troublesome for him to carry heavy, bulky boxes of goods onto buses or MRT, and worse still, these public transport does not stop at his exact destination. Do you expect him to carry these goods to his customers' house on foot?

Also, it seems that traffic conditions have not improved much even after these rates increase and more ERP gantries. When traffic situations fail to change for the better, it probably means that more ERP gantries will be placed and charges will go up again, until the relevant authorities deem the traffic conditions "acceptable". This will hit hard on many people, such as the taxi drivers, who now avoid the Central Business District whenever possible. Some will rather wait till the ERP operating hours are over before they drive in these areas. The minute ERP gantries and not in operation, there is an influx in the number of vehicles on these roads. And then the price hike and extension of ERP operating hours. Do you think this is reasonable?


As far as I am concerned, ERP is unnecessary and neither is it the best way to solve the 'traffic gridlock' problem in Singapore.
First and foremost, Singapore is a small country. Moving from one place to another takes a much shorter time as compared to big cities in other countries. How bad can a traffic gridlock be?
Secondly, as the traffic network here is quite efficient, many motorists are automatically looking for alternatives to get to their destination, where there is lesser traffic. There is always the natural tendency for people to source for more convenient ways to go about doing things, so why do we still need ERP, when it's job is already done?

Also, I feel that the transport ministry should just look into the public transport system in Singapore and not focus on ERP too much. I firmly believe that if more priority is given to public transport, such as the recent effort of designating bus lanes to buses only on busy roads and at the same time, increasing the frequency of such buses, people are more than happy to switch to public transport.

Lastly, I would like to add that the MRT is a time-saving public transport as it avoids the traffic congestion on roads. However, there are a few downsides to it, such as overcrowding during peak hours and the lack of seats. If improvements are made to it, I am sure that more people will be willing to use the MRTs.

And that's all for my two cents' worth on ERP and public transport.