ERP increase is ok if it really helps traffic flow smoothly...what is wrong is that ERP is implemented IN ANTICIPATION of congestion outside Fullerton...so now, is the govt's strategy to increase existing ERP rates, then install more gantries IN ANTICIPATION that traffic will divert there?
why make it so difficult? put in a little but more effort and make it IMPOSSIBLE!!
Those cars (with drivers waiting for their spouses/passengers) who line the entire left lane along Shenton Way on weekday evenings, leading towards Fullerton Hotel, are the cause of the congestion.
It's time the police or CISCO officers station themselves to book the entire lot. The LTA will soon discover that the traffic flow will vastly improve, rendering that ERP gantry totally unnecessary.
[But road tax was cut by 15 per cent from this month, a reduction that will cost the Government $110 million a year in revenue foregone against the $70 million more it is projected to collect from higher ERP charges.]
For a more detail comparison, what are:
1. The total road tax collection before MINUS $110 million a year in revenue foregone?
2. The total ERP collection before ADDING on the $70 million more collection from higher ERP charges?
Anybody care to provide the answer?
Obviously, the revenues LTA collected when one purchase a new car is not just simply on road tax alone, there are COEs with a 10 years validity and others charges being imposed by LTA as well.
ERP ensures that the rich will not be stuck in traffic jams, whilst the middle income and low income earners travelling like sardines in trains and buses.
August 17, 2008 Sunday, 07:38 PM
