ELECTRONIC Road Pricing (ERP) gantries - the steel gates that levy tolls on motorists using crowded roads - may become history.
In the near future, ERP fees may be charged using a satellite system, called the global navigation satellite system.
This system uses orbiting satellites to track moving vehicles, the technology behind the global positioning system.
It is already being used to collect road tolls in other countries, such as in Germany, where the toll for trucks using expressways is based on distance travelled.
Transport Minister Raymond Lim said yesterday that Singapore is looking at switching to such a system, because traffic congestion is expected to become more widespread in future, making it impractical to install more ERP gantries.
The Land Transport Authority (LTA) also said that making the switch would save funds which would otherwise have been spent on constructing gantries, which cost about $1.5 million each to build.
Singapore has 66 operating gantries. Another 14 along the Kallang-Paya Lebar Expressway are not in use yet.
The LTA will soon call a tender for technical proposals from industry players, and will conduct various technical tests to evaluate if the latest technologies are suitable for use here, Mr Lim said.
Such trials include simulations of vehicle formations - such as heavy vehicles alongside motorcycles, or cars under various weather conditions - and high-speed tests, on routes that include expressways and underground tunnels.
Mr Lim added that he expected the development and testing of the technologies to take some years before a new system could be launched.
He was speaking at the opening of the two-day World Urban Transport Leaders Summit yesterday, where more than 300 delegates from over 25 countries gathered to discuss ideas and ways of transforming urban transport.
One of the speakers, Professor Anthony May, an emeritus professor of transport engineering at Britain's University of Leeds, suggested that drivers can be charged based on the distance they roam within a congestion hot spot, instead of being charged a flat fee upon entry.
This method of charging makes it fairer for drivers as they pay for their mileage, he said.
For road users such as management assistant Firdaus Ramli, 24, their topmost concern is whether more ERP points will pop up, with the implementation of the new system.
He said: "For people like me who don't travel to the city much for work, it's an inconvenience if ERP points appear along more roads.
"I'd have to fork out an extra dollar or two, even though I work in the heartlands."