Update on Whether ERP is Required to Manage Traffic Congestion

13 Er Dr Lee Bee Wah asked the Minister for Transport if he will provide an update on whether evening ERP is still required to manage traffic congestion along the CTE.

The Senior Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Transport (Mr Baey Yam Keng) (for the Minister for Transport): Mr Speaker, Sir, the Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) policy helps to manage traffic congestion and maintain optimal traffic speeds. Currently, evening ERP is only imposed along the northbound Central Expressway (CTE), where traffic speeds range between 48 kilometre per hour and 56 kilometre per hour. This is near the lower bound of the optimal expressway speeds. Evening ERP is, therefore, still required there to prevent further congestion. The Land Transport Authority (LTA) will continue to monitor the situation and review the ERP charges where necessary.

Er Dr Lee Bee Wah (Nee Soon): Sir, I have one supplementary question. I find that this is very unfair to those residents who are living in the north. They have to pay ERP in the morning and ERP in the evening. Many residents can understand the need for having ERP in the morning. But many feel that the evening one is not acceptable and they feel that speed is not critical when they are going home. So, I would like to ask the Senior Parliamentary Secretary whether MOT can review the purpose of the ERP and see how effective it is in mitigating the traffic jam.

Mr Baey Yam Keng: Mr Speaker, Sir, Er Dr Lee had asked the same question in January 2016. However, over the last two and a half years, the journey speeds on the north-bound CTE in the evening have not changed much. It has not become much worse, nor has it improved significantly. While I agree with Er Dr Lee that, to some people, going home in the evening is not so critical and maybe we should not need the ERP, but I think, with the aspiration for better work-life balance, family time is important to many people nowadays. So, for the tens of thousands of motorists who are enjoying lighter traffic and higher speeds when they travel along CTE in the evening, they have been able to reach home quicker, in time for dinner and to spend quality time with their families. So, I am not sure whether they will share the same views. Speed will affect the time required for the journeys.

LTA's main mandate is to ensure that motorists are able to enjoy smooth and safe journeys on the roads and expressways. Without the ERP, all motorists on the north-bound CTE are more likely to experience jams in the evening. This is expected, as our northern areas are more densely populated, which includes Nee Soon South, where the Member's constituency is. But with ERP, it alleviates this traffic congestion.

We have data to show that, with ERP or when ERP rates are adjusted accordingly, it does shape motorists' behaviour and it alleviates the situation and, at the same time, provides options for commuters. So, those who are willing to pay the ERP charges can enjoy a shorter journey home while others can choose other routes. For example, going up north, they can choose Thomson Road which is not a priced road, or they can take public transport.

In addition, my Ministry has been working very hard to improve these other options. For example, we are constructing the North-South Corridor and the MRT resignalling works will help to increase train frequencies. So, even though we live in a very densely populated city, it is our commitment to provide Singaporeans with a quality living environment.

Er Dr Lee Bee Wah: Thank you, Sir. Precisely because of work-life balance, a lot of my residents say "Why not we just get rid of the evening ERP?" because many of them stay longer in the office and go home only after ERP. So, I would like to urge the Minister to seriously reconsider because the fact that the speed along the CTE did not change much over these few years says that it is no longer effective.

Mr Baey Yam Keng: I think I can hear some murmurs among Members here who have direct experience of travelling along the CTE in the evening. But, if I could just use the example for the north-bound traffic along the CTE after the PIE, in the third quarter of 2016 and the first quarter of 2017, we did raise the ERP charges because we observed that traffic has come down below the optimum range of 45 km/h, way below 45 km/h. When the ERP rates were adjusted, it did help to lessen the traffic and the speeds went up. So, with that, motorists have been able to reach home faster and we see a direct impact on the motorists' behaviour with the pricing policy.

But we note Er Dr Lee's concern for her constituents and I think, in general, Singaporeans' family time, and we will continue to look at ways to manage our traffic conditions better.