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ERP rates revision

As a service provider similiar to any service industries, a transparent form of SLA for public buses and train to arrive at a particular station during on and off peak hours is needed so to justify price hike.  The SLA should also include not more then x% of people in a train bus carriage so to avoid overcrowded. If the SLA is not met for x% per year, a hefty fine will be imposed.  As I understand as of today, there is a SLA for trains uptime (% of breakdown) but not arrival to a particular station within a stipulated time.  Also SBS and/or SMRT's SLA is to LTA and not to public. 

Once you have a defined set of service agreement, its easier to determine the required resources (assets = people and vehicle) to meet the service agreement. Knowing the require resources, you can then calculate the cost (maintenance + operations cost)associated to each of the resources and then priced (add x% for profit) it together with a world class industry standard to the public in dollars and cents.

 

 

Some gantries are at your very doorsteps. The moment you turn out, kana already....

The UV trick does not work lah...The moment the transmitter cannot detect your IU and your car pass by, the sensors embedded on the road will trigger the camera to take a picture of your car plate. Don't ask me how I know....

 

Before suggesting impractical, luxuries, the more immediate urgent need is to get rid of those high bus-stop seats. 

 

how about aircon room for bus stop.....that will really make an enjoyable wait for the buses...and people wont complain about long waiting time anymore

 

all bus stops and replacing all with the lower seats. Adults and children will then find waiting for buses a joy rather than a pain.

 

Improvement of public transport (buses) also  means getting rid of all the high sloping seats at
all bus tops and replacing all with the lower seats. Adults and children will then find waiting for buses a joy rather than a pain.

 

 

one idea which they can consider is let the mini-bus (just the one in HK) ply the areas where big buses can not or don't want to go due to lack of volume.

 

They should improve the public transport first, say buses must not be overloaded, don't have to wait for 15% buses pass by the commuter fully packed in order to board a bus, or don't have to wait for more than 15 mins, the commuter don't have to connect another bus/Mrt more than twice (i.e feeder bus to MRT and MRT to feeder bus). Then it will be fair to increase the ERP and th number of gantries. From the newspaper, it looks like it is the reluctance to improve (as compared to HK system). Everything also want to privatise and make profit, then obviously private co will not improve the public transport as they want to maximise profit. For the environment purpose, we should make public transport as efficincy as possible with minimal cost (just enough to cover the cost will do) so that more ppl will take public transport. Not by squeezing money and money from ppl.

 

for those motorists, you can complain all you want really.  At the end of the day, you need to make YOUR decision.  To give up your vehicle and take the public transport (which the gahment is enticing all motorists to) OR to continue owning it and pay the many more rising ERP (which the gahment has implemented to reduce vehicles congestion on the road.  You just have to decide if there is more value or returns if you want to shift that 8SGD spending on ERP to SMRT/SBS to town (similiarly to how we shift spendings on FILE SERVERS on each country to NETWORK INCREASING WAN BANDWIDTH between countries and centralize our File System in each region).

We are going to have 6 millions people in this 42km by 26km island in the near furture so the gahment really need to have a workable plan in place for transportation. <fullstop>.

 

if they want to reduce traffic jam....reduce the car population but hey they won't becoz that income (car & oil) must continue for them.

 

We should say bearshit as for current market condition ! next time the ERP may start as early as 6 am ! gahman are two face buddha .

 

its all bullshit.. anyone who took economics know that there is no way to eliminate traffic jam.. wat they r doing is jus to push congestion to other timing or other roads.. jus like previously, erp start at 8am, jam will occur ard 7.30am.. now the push it earlier, the congestion start earlier.. same as the CTE ERP in the evening.. they jus forcing ppl to go home later..

Traffic congestion is a crap excuse for govt to increase govt revenue.. if the person need to use the car, no matter what he stil will drive.. they r really blood sucker man.. now inflation is rising and our so call 1st class "elite" govt is not trying to curb inflation but to add more "tax" to fuel higher inflaton...

No wonder they are in the talk to lower ARF and lesser road tax.. so that they can have excuse to implement islandwide ERP system in time to come.. most of the motorist including myself will unconsciously be paying ERP in and out of town.. can you imagine, i need to pay ard $8 for ERP to reach my office in town.. thats ridiculous..

But well, its our 66% majority of the singapore population that choose this kind of govt.. what to do.. the rest of the minority have to endure with such govt for another 5 good years.

 

smart boy. now then, to make it not so obvious.

and then, like clinton's gay policy in the military: don't ask, don't tell.

you never heard anything from me. i'm small. i'm a nobody. i disclaim all responsibilities for your deeds. *poof*

 

Haha... I thought there was a maximum UV thickness because they wanted Singapore drivers to get their daily dose of Vitamin D. Hehehe.. 

 

state secret. the gahmen would kill me.

lol.

figure it out yourself, dahling: what makes the IVU readable? why do they allow UV screens only of a certain thickness/opaqueness--or should i say, transparency?

oops, and i've said too much.

this never happened. i don't know you, i don't know anyone. caveat emptor. the elf denies any responsibility. as in the market: you fire the gun, you bite the bullet. :P  

 

How? Teach me leh...

 

there are ways to beat the system, ya know. hehe.

 

Damn.... I think I should buy myself a rickshaw now.  Eh... wait... do rickshaws have cashcard IVUs?


 

New formula for ERP charge

TO GIVE motorists a smoother ride and better manage traffic congestion, the Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) charges will be based on a new formula, which will kick in earlier when traffic speeds fall below the optimal range. The base rate will also go up to $2, from the current $1, and each subsequent jump will be $1, instead of 50 cents now. These changes announced by Transport Minister Raymond Lim on Wednesday, along with the addition of 16 ERP gantries, are aimed at easing congestion in the city area, as well as on major roads island-wide. Not only are more vehicles on the roads, but motorists are also earning more these days compared to 10 years ago when Singapore introduced its world-first system of managing traffic by charging for road usage. Current charges are just not hitting motorists' pockets hard enough to keep enough of them away. The result: frequent increases to ERP rates to keep traffic flowing - nine in 2006 and 25 last year. The year-long land transport review figured enough was enough. Under the new formula, ERP charges will kick in when, in line with international practice, just over 15 per cent of vehicles cannot go at what traffic engineers consider the best possible speed. The current threshold speeds, set 10 years ago, are 45 kph on expressways and 20 kph on major roads. But motorists still find themselves getting caught in slow traffic, and even experiencing 'stop-start' conditions, despite fine weather, and with no accident in sight, said Mr Lim. The current threshold speeds are closed to the point where traffic flow can deteriorate rapidly to what traffic engineers call the 'unstable zone', leading to 'stop-start' traffic flow. 'This is undesirable and we need to create a buffer to ensure better traffic conditions,' said the minister. To address this, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) will no longer use average travelling speeds to determine ERP rate changes. Instead, it will use the speed taken at the 85 percentile level, which will assure motorists of smooth travel on ERP-priced roads at least 85 per cent of the time. The new formula, as well as the higher charges, will be phased in from July in the Central Business District (CBD) and Orchard Road, and then to other roads in due time. The number of gantries will also go up in phases, from 55 now, to 60 in April, 65 in July and 71 in November. Mr Lim said from feedback, motorists are willing to pay ERP charges if they can benefit from it. 'The changes will improve the effectiveness of the ERP system, so that each time ERP rates are adjusted, motorists who still choose to drive on these roads would see visible improvement in traffic flows,' said the minister. On the five new gantries coming up in the CBD to discourage motorists from cutting through the already packed Suntec City, Bugis and Marina Square shopping areas, Mr Lim said speeds on major roads in the city area have fallen by more than 25 per cent. For example, a motorist crossing the city from Bugis to Chinatown in the evening enjoyed travelling speeds of 25 kph five years ago. Today, the speeds have fallen by almost 30 per cent to 18 kph. At major cross junctions between North Bridge Road and Bras Basah Road, as well as South Bridge Road and Cross Street, the build-up of traffic has resulted in motorists having to wait for three or more traffic light changes before they are able to cross the junctions. 'We cannot let conditions deteriorate further,' said Mr Lim. The expected increase in ERP revenue will be about $70 million a year.