Evening ERP along Central Expressway

17 Er Dr Lee Bee Wah asked the Minister for Transport (a) what is the current traffic speed along the Central Expressway (CTE) between 6.00 pm and 7.00 pm; (b) what is the purpose of having an evening ERP along CTE; and (c) whether the Ministry will consider removing this evening ERP.

The Minister for Transport (Mr Khaw Boon Wan): Madam, the Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) policy helps to manage traffic congestion during peak hours and maintain optimal traffic speeds. Even with the evening ERP along the northbound Central Expressway (CTE), current traffic speeds are at the lower end of the targeted speed. In fact, speeds dropped below 45 km/h between 6.30 pm and 7.00 pm.

If we remove the evening ERP, we will see even slower speeds and more traffic congestion.

Er Dr Lee Bee Wah (Nee Soon): I thank the Minister for his answer. With the completion of the interchange, that means there is a new exit from CTE to Seletar West Link. Many of the residents use the exit there and, so, there is an alternative for them. The observation from the residents is that the speed along the CTE actually has eased because you have an additional interchange linking the three expressways. And that is why we are hoping for the monitoring of the speed again since the opening of the new interchange and see whether or not we can remove the evening ERP.

Mr Khaw Boon Wan: Mdm Speaker, I hope so, too. I live in the north. In fact, the Member used to be my Member of Parliament and a very good one. I always say, "My favourite Member of Parliament – Er Dr Lee Bee Wah." She was my Member of Parliament two general elections ago, but because of the boundary changes, she is no longer my Member of Parliament. I am happy to let her know that my neighbours continue to remember her fondly. And there is a reason for it – because she always conveys very strong feedback from the residents, like the case of CTE and ERP.

As I use CTE often enough, whether speeds improve or deteriorate, I have first-hand knowledge. But for ERP fee setting at each quarterly adjustment, we rely on the speed data which machines generate. As I have said, those data have not yet justified a reduction. But we hope that maybe with, for example, the new interchange which the Member talked about, speeds may enter the targeted range in a very definitive way – then there will be scope for adjustments.

Mdm Speaker, you may know that I am a heart patient, I have a chronic heart disease. I had open heart surgery more than five years ago. Since then, I have to face my cardiologist regularly. In fact, I will be seeing him tomorrow. A few days before each consultation, I will have to do a fasting blood test. Each time, I hope that my bad cholesterol reading will be in the optimal range so that the doctor can remove the very high dosage of statin that he prescribes for me.

Last year, when I went for my consultation, my results were better than the preferred range, which is very aggressive: LDL must be below 1.8 mmol/l and mine was 1.7. So, I said, "Doctor, this time round, you can remove it". He said, "No. If I remove it, who knows? It may go up again." So, same dosage.

This time round, I got back my blood results a few days ago. Unfortunately, it exceeded the targeted range. So, I am keeping my fingers crossed that, hopefully, the very aggressive dosage will not be raised further. Anti-cholesterol drug is the same thing as ERP.