[sustran] Re: Singapore

[Piotr Olszewski (Assoc Prof)]

I feel obliged to respond to John's request and add a few points to
Farheen's report.  We have been monitoring the ALS and ERP effects for some
time now and have lots of data. 

The general conclusion is that the system works well, in the sense that it
keeps the main roads free from congestion on weekdays, during what is
considered to be economically important periods: 7:30-9:30 for expressways
and major arterials leading to the centre and 7:30-19:00 for the city area
itself.

Traffic is quite sensitive to the ERP even though the charges are relatively
small - comparable to a one-hour parking fee here (and well below what it
costs in other cities!).  Traffic speeds are monitored by the Land Transport
Authority and the rates are revised every 3 months to maintain the speeds
within the desirable bands. If the speed drops below a threshold value, the
ERP rate is raised, if the speed is higher than the upper threshold, the
rate is lowered. Drivers respond even to small changes by re-timing or
re-routing their trips.  We have found the elasticity of traffic volume to
the ERP charge to be -0.1 for the city commuters and -0.2 for expressways in
the morning; -0.2 for the city during the day and -0.6 in the evening.

The ERP works better than the ALS: under the old system most commuters had
monthly licences, which means that once they bought it, their subsequent
driving behaviour was not affected. When the system was changed to ERP
per-entry method of charging, traffic volumes to the CBD dropped by 20%,
although the individual rates were lower than the daily licence before.
Another good indication that the new system is a more effective demand
management tool is that the total revenue from ERP is now less than what it
used to be under ALS, although there are now more roads subjected to pricing
and the congestion is not worse.

The problem of big traffic surges, which used to occur before and after the
ALS periods, is now hardly evident. This is due to the 'shoulder pricing'
method which involves the rate increasing in small steps every half an hour
in the morning and decreasing in the evening. While this is effective and
may be well understood by regular commuters, it is confusing to an
occasional user (like myself) - one is never sure how much will be deducted
from the cash card! - especially with rates being revised every 3 months.

A more substantial and official report on the ERP experience by A.P.G. Menon
may be found in February 2000 issue of the TEC.

----------------------------------------------
Piotr Olszewski              colsze at ntu.edu.sg
Tel: (+65) 790-5320        Fax: (+65) 791-0676
Nanyang Technological University,    Singapore


> -----Original Message-----
> From: Farheen Mukri [mailto:farheen at riet.org.sg]
> Sent: Tuesday, August 08, 2000 6:18 PM
> To: 'sustran-discuss at jca.ax.apc.org'
> Subject: [sustran] Re: Singapore
> 
> 
> Hi John, 
> 
> Well I thought the LTA website (www.lta.gov.sg) would have 
> all this info,
> such as charges, rate of increase, timings etc... but no, i guess not.
> 
> Let me just share what I know. The ERP charge is for CBD 
> areas (from 7.30am
> to 7pm) and the highway usage only in the mornings. 
> 
> All vehicles entering the CBD area pay between S$1 to S$2 per 
> entry. So if
> you exited the CBD area and remembered smthg else and need to 
> drive back in,
> the ERP meter will just happily deduct a second time round. Money is
> deducted from cash cards in Electronic Units installed in 
> each vehicle.
> Charges are higher between 7.30am-9.30am and I think 4.30pm - 
> 7pm compared
> to those for 9.30 am to 4.30pm.
> 
> Some highways have a entry charge which varies from $0.50 to 
> $2.20 depending
> on the time of morning. 
> 
> Whether it works -- well, it's still hard to tell. While some 
> pple car pool
> (not enough obviously) and an increasing number are switching 
> to the MRT and
> buses, there does seem, on some roads, to be an ease in 
> traffic flow. But I
> can't be certain about this. Having said that I don't think 
> we have really
> bad traffic jams that keep you on the road for more than 1 hour, just
> allowing cars to inch bit by bit. I could be wrong. There is no ERP on
> Saturdays or Sundays and you can imagine the packed roads esp 
> on Saturdays,
> right in the heart of town. Maddening. 
> 
> Since the connections from bus to train and vice versa are 
> relatively good,
> there is a gradually noticeable number of Singaporeans who 
> tend not to drive
> into 'town' (meaning generally the main shopping belt) and 
> instead switch to
> public transport. But I guess it's not a significant difference. 
> 
> Farheen
> 
> > ----------
> > From: 	John Whitelegg[SMTP:ecologic at gn.apc.org]
> > Reply To: 	sustran-discuss at jca.ax.apc.org
> > Sent: 	08 August, 2000 3:19 PM
> > To: 	'sustran-discuss at jca.ax.apc.org'
> > Subject: 	[sustran] Singapore
> > 
> > Dear Sustran discussers,
> > 
> > Can anyone tell me what the latest situation is in 
> Singapore with respect
> > to area licensing and to electronic road pricing/congestion 
> charging.
> > Specifically
> > 
> > What is currently in place
> > How much does it cost
> > Does it work
> > 
> > Because I don't believe in exploitation I will happily send 
> to those who
> > reply a report I have just written on the economic, social and
> > environmental impact of aviation and how to curb the growth 
> of flying
> > through emission charges.
> > 
> > Very best wishes and thanks
> > 
> > John Whitelegg
> > 
>