Gantries In Heartland To Make Residential Estates More Liveable

Source : The Straits Times, Feb 16, 2008

TAKING the Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) scheme into the heartland will ease an expected islandwide traffic gridlock and make residential estates more liveable, Transport Minister Raymond Lim said yesterday.

With 850,000 vehicles on the road and more intensive use of cars than in other major cities, Singapore's arterial roads will also soon face congestion, he said in response to queries on the planned expansion of ERP coverage.

Dr Lee Bee Wah (Ang Mo Kio GRC) questioned the point of evening ERP charges along the Central Expressway (CTE), which she said is the shortest route home for Ang Mo Kio and Yishun residents.

But Mr Lim replied: Imagine a situation where heartland roads are exempted from ERP charges and only the Central Business District and expressways leading there are affected.

Drivers would then use alternative roads, including detours through the heartland and other estates.
'If you're living in a residential estate, is that what you want - gridlock?' he asked.

He said his ministry studied many European cities such as those in Switzerland and Germany, which have measures to cut down vehicle traffic in residential areas.

Congestion exacts costs on both the economy and the environment and 'going ahead, the key thing here is to have a liveable city, a quality urban living environment', he said.

Singaporean drivers clock up 21,000km a year in their cars, more than Londoners (9,100km) and even those in Los Angeles (19,800km).

In response to other questions, he said that the 16 new ERP gantries coming up this year are part of a package of measures to manage gridlock on Singapore's roads.

The measures include road and rail upgrades totalling nearly $54 billion.

This means the Government is giving back to the public more than the projected increase in ERP revenue, he said.

The increase in the number of gantries will bring the total number to 71.

'I think it is worthwhile for us to realise that when we are dealing with congestion, we can't rely on any single measure. You need a whole suite of measures,' he said.

Anyone who says he has found a panacea or a single solution is 'selling you snake oil. Ignore the medicine man, it doesn't work that way', he said.

Madam Ho Geok Choo (West Coast GRC) asked him how the $168 million in ERP revenues will be accounted for following the rate hikes.

Mr Lim said the money would go towards funding various government programmes for Singaporeans, including public transport and road projects.

From now till 2020, some $14 billion will be spent on road developments, and around $40 billion on extensions to rail lines.

While his ministry expects the additional revenue from the upcoming ERP changes to be about $70 million annually, the reduction in road tax will cost the Government about $110 million every year. It will also collect $200 million less annually due to a reduction in the Additional Registration Fee (ARF) for cars, he said.

The point of the ERP, he told Madam Ho, 'is to address congestion and is not a revenue measure'.

CLARISSA OON