FOREIGN VEHICLES

1.

Assoc. Prof. Ong Soh Khim asked the Minister for Transport in view of LTA's announcment that foreign vehicles can enter Singapore free of charge during weekdays from 5.00 pm onwards (a) whether his Ministry has monitored the traffic conditions to determine if these foreign vehicles have resulted in a surge of traffic entering Singapore and (b) whether this surge of foreign vehicles have caused traffic congestion during the peak hours between 5.00 pm and 7.00 pm, when many people are travelling home from work.

Mr Yeo Cheow Tong: I would like to assure Assoc. Prof. Ong that my Ministry has been monitoring the traffic conditions. Prior to the implementation of the change in the VEP operating hours, LTA had conducted a trial in January 2005 to test the impact of reducing the VEP operating hours on Fridays. During the trial, it was found that traffic conditions had remained satisfactory. There was no impact on traffic on the major expressways and roads near the checkpoints and within the Central Business District.

Given the positive results from the trial, LTA and the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) jointly announced the early lifting of the requirement to pay VEP charges from 5.00 pm instead of 7.00 pm on weekdays, with effect from 4th February 2005 .

Since its implementation, LTA has continued to monitor the traffic conditions. To-date, the LTA has not observed any adverse impact on traffic conditions at the checkpoints and on roads in Singapore , despite some increase in the arrival of foreign vehicles. The daily arrival of foreign registered cars has increased by about 13% from 4,800 for a typical week prior to the implementation of the changes to the VEP scheme to 5,500. In fact, the early lifting of VEP from 5.00 pm has helped to spread out the peak traffic inflows at the checkpoints from the post 7.00 pm peak to the new 5.00-7.00 pm VEP-free time slot when traffic is less congested in Singapore .

While we have not noticed any adverse effect on traffic conditions in Singapore , the LTA will continue to monitor the situation and make changes to the scheme if necessary.

Column: 249