Do we REALLY know psyche of S'pore driver?
Understanding the pysche of drivers like Mr Li Tian'En was the topic of discussion in Parliament yesterday.
Mr Li has a love-hate relationship with the Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) scheme.
On one hand, the bank relationship manager's drive home from the business district via the Central Expressway (CTE) is faster because of the evening ERP charges.
On the other hand, he can't stomach paying the $9 ERP charges he incurs if he drives from his Hougang home to office in the morning.
He now takes a more convoluted route to work in the morning, via busy Ubi Avenue and Nicoll Highway instead.
He spends only $2.50 in ERP fees in comparison, but wastes more time on the road.
This is because of the increase in motorists who now ply this route to avoid the CTE.
Mr Li told The New Paper: 'The traffic is very heavy along this route. There are many more traffic lights and my cruising speed is probably around 30kmh.
'It's a more unpleasant drive compared to taking the CTE, but I save more money.'
This alternative route takes him about 45 minutes to get to work, compared to 30 minutes via the CTE.
He said: 'If I'm going to pay so much to use the CTE, I'll rather be late for work.'
Mr Li, who paid about $100,000 for his Alfa 147 some two months ago, said he would not give up the luxury of using his car in the face of increasing ERP fees.
'I've already paid so much for my car, of course I am going to use it. It would take a lot for me to switch to public transport,' he said.
Attitudes like Mr Li's got Mr Hri Kumar - Member of Parliament for Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC - asking if the ERP scheme is the right solution to Singapore's traffic woes.
He said: 'Is the ERP the right antidote to the problem? There's a flawed relationship between Singaporeans and their cars.
'Do you think Singaporeans will change their driving habits if you increase ERP charges? Congestion will still happen despite that.'
He argued that Singaporeans, having paid tens of thousands of dollars for their cars, will not baulk at paying ERP charges.
Mr Seah Kian Peng, Member of Parliament for Marine Parade GRC, questioned what went wrong with the country's car growth over the years.
MORE CARS ON ROAD
The passenger car population increased by 5.1 per cent in 2005, 7.8 per cent in 2006 and 9 per cent last year.
He asked: 'Why did we allow it to gridlock? I think we got the psychology wrong somewhere.'
Transport Minister Raymond Lim explained that there is no single measure that can solve the congestion problem.
The ERP is but just one measure, along with vehicle population growth control, road building and public transport improvements.
'We need ERP to ensure that we are a city in a garden, and not a city in a carpark,' he said.
On criticisms that the ERP is just a revenue generator, Minister Lim explained that the annual revenue foregone on combined ownership tax cuts such as excise duty and road taxes came up to more than $1.2 billion every year on a permanent basis.
The ERP revenue comes up to just about $100 million per year.
'So, it is not a revenue measure but a congestion measure,' he added.
Minister Lim recounted how, when Certificate of Entitlement prices went above $100,000 in 1994, unhappy Singaporeans complained about the high car costs.
The Government then switched to a usage measure.
'So, we changed the system by lowering the ownership costs, so that you pay as you use. It is a fair system,' he added.
He does not agree that given the cost of cars here, once people have bought their cars, they are going to drive no matter how expensive ERP is.
Minister Lim cited an example of how traffic flow along the CTE was slow in the evening, with a travelling speed of about 34kmh.
But when the ERP gantry was up, the cruising speed increased to 50kmh, and the cars using it dropped by some 10 per cent.
He said: 'For some people, they will continue to drive regardless of the price, but not all will do so.
'If this was so, all ERP-priced roads today will be congested and if the ERP system was a failure, other cities such as London, Milan and New York City would not have followed us.'
the right solution is to make cars freaking cheap but prohibiting them from driving with expensive ERP, parking and fuel
1. scrap COE and road tax
2. increase ERP, petrol/diesel tax
in this way, everyone will be happy cos ppl can own a car as cheap as $20k, govt revenue increases and car industry sustained.
Public transport is more than decent lah.
To me i think that ERP is only barely effective. I see it as another form of social tax for gassing the atmosphere
every minimum 3 years then he get to collect the below:
" Minister Lim explained that the annual revenue foregone on combined ownership tax cuts such as excise duty and road taxes came up to more than $1.2 billion every year on a permanent basis. "
everyday using ERP he will collect more,
e.g. S$9.00 / day x 20 days x 12 month x 3 years = S$6,480.00 per car.
yearly increase 5.1% + 7.8% + 9%
what is S$1.2 billion every year?