IMPOSITION OF ERP CHARGES ON SATURDAYS

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IMPOSITION OF ERP CHARGES ON SATURDAYS: 3.

Mr Liang Eng Hwa asked the Minister for Transport why it is necessary to impose ERP charges on Saturdays and whether there is a need to extend the ERP cordoning strategy to Saturdays as well.

Mr Teo Ser Luck (for the Minister for Transport): Sir, the Members of this House and most members of the public understand that the purpose of the Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) is to manage congestion on our roads. The need to manage congestion is applicable not just to weekdays, but also to Saturdays as well, and the extent to which we need to implement ERP would depend on traffic patterns.

The Saturday ERP was first implemented at the Orchard Cordon in October 2005, and it serves to demarcate the Orchard Road area from the Central Business District (CBD) to better reflect the different traffic conditions along Orchard Road, which is predominantly retail, from the commercial developments in the other parts of the CBD. Since its implementation, the Orchard Cordon has successfully reduced the through traffic using the Orchard area as a by-pass route from more than 30% to about 20%. Now, motorists heading for Orchard Road do not have to compete with those whose destinations are outside of Orchard Road.

The Bugis-Marina Centre Cordon is conceptually similar to the Orchard Cordon, and it serves to separate the

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shopping area, such as Suntec, from the commercial office-based areas, such as Shenton Way and Robinson Road. Prior to its implementation in July this year, LTA had found that the traffic conditions within the Bugis-Marina Centre Cordon had deteriorated below the optimal speed threshold on Saturdays. In the first four weeks of implementation, LTA has found that the traffic volume has reduced by about 20% on average, and speeds have risen to above 20 kilometres per hour.

LTA will continue to monitor the traffic conditions in this area closely, and will adjust the ERP rates accordingly, if traffic conditions warrant it.

Mr Liang Eng Hwa (Holland-Bukit Timah): Sir, many motorists who drive through Fullerton Road on Saturdays would agree with me that there is actually no congestion to manage there. So, I would like to ask the Senior Parliamentary Secretary whether:

(1) the slow speed that was measured by LTA could be because there is a certain stretch of road where the traffic junctions are at close intervals; and

(2) LTA can go a bit easy on Saturdays, since it is a non-working day and, hence, the impact on our economy will be much lesser.

Mr Teo Ser Luck: If the LTA decides to put in the gantries and levy ERP charges, all the conditions on the road would have been considered, whether it is a traffic junction or car movements. Basically, when the speed has consistently gone below the threshold level, with all these factors being considered, that is when it would be activated.

I understand Mr Liang's concerns that the traffic flow itself might not be as heavy as it would be compared to weekdays. The ERP is a responsive system. It takes in all the changes in

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driving habits or lifestyle. We will also look at whether our benchmark today at 20 kilometres per hour for the arterial roads there would still continue to function as well as it should. So, all this feedback is necessary, and I would encourage Members to let us know so that we can use that and continue to monitor and consider all this feedback in future.

Mr Lim Biow Chuan (Marine Parade): I would like to ask the Senior Parliamentary Secretary whether LTA would be prepared to publish how LTA obtains its data or calculate the travelling speed, because the feedback from the ground seems to suggest that not many people agree with the way LTA derives its travelling speed and hence implements its ERP. Would LTA be able to produce or publish the data on its website?

Mr Teo Ser Luck: The monitoring is conducted over a period of time. If there is a request for it, we will certainly be willing to share that. I urge and encourage the Member to let us know which period he will be looking at and what data he will be looking for and we will be willing to share.