TODAYonline

More gantries, fewer taxis?

LTA in discussion with taxi companies to provide rebates for their drivers

Jinny Koh
jinny@mediacorp.com.sg

AS CONSTRUCTION of the Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) gantries on the Singapore River Line begins today, businesses have told the Land Transport Authority (LTA) their worry about a shortage of taxis when the five gantries come into operation in July.

In turn, the LTA is in discussions with cab companies to see if they can provide rebates for their cabbies, even as it considers extensions to the operating hours of existing ERP gantries.

Currently, ComfortDelGro is the only taxi operator to allow their drivers to claim a rebate if they do not find a passenger within 15 minutes in the Orchard and Central Business District (CDB) cordons.

An average of 200 cabbies a day have benefited from the rebate, which started last December, said Ms Tammy Tan, the operator's spokesperson.

But Mr Lim Chong Boo, managing director of Premier Taxis — which has a fleet of 2,400 cabs — said the ERP-cabby problem is not restricted to town.

"Cabs are also forking out the surcharge in areas outside the CDB, such as Toa Payoh," he said, adding that talks with the LTA is in initial stages and there are areas to be discussed in order to find "robust solutions".

Even if other taxi operators do not offer rebates, the LTA has said that the gantries, which are meant to deter drivers from using the CBD and city routes to get to another destination, "will not be a significant impact on cabbies because the gantries are operating at short hours, affecting only one or two trips each taxi driver".

While the initial pricing for the five gantries will depend on traffic conditions from April to June this year, operating times have been decided: From 5pm to 8pm on weekdays, starting July 7.

Two of the gantries — at Eu Tong Sen Street and Fullerton Road (toward Suntec City) — will also operate on Saturday between 10am and 8pm, when the Bugis and Marina areas are more congested than Shenton Way and Robinson Road.

The other three gantries are at New Bridge Road, South Bridge Road and Fullerton Road (toward Collyer Quay).

In addition, the LTA is also monitoring traffic conditions during this quarter to determine if existing ERP operation hours for the CBD and Orchard cordon should be extended.

The new operating hours could be from 7am to 8pm on weekdays for the CBD, compared to between 8am and 10am, and noon to 7pm currently. In the Orchard cordon, the new timings could be between 10am to 8pm on weekdays. Pricing now starts only at noon.

The LTA is assuring businesses not to worry, in particular over the Singapore River Line gantries.

It cited how London, which implemented in 2003 a similar congestion charge scheme, found that businesses for the hotel, restaurant and retail sectors had improved.

An LTA spokesperson said: "We've not finished engagement with both big complexes and small shops, and we will see what we can tweak in terms of operational perimeters to aid their concerns."

The statutory board hopes that changes will bring about similar results to the gantries installed in the Orchard area, which saw a more than 10-per-cent decrease in cars transiting along the roads.

new gantries, more awareness

The five new gantries will be the first to be mounted with the new Rates Variable Message System (RVMS).

Designed to be seen from 100m away, the LTA hopes that this will help motorists be more aware of the different charges and, at the same time, make rational decisions on roads they use.

The RVMS will display prices for cars on the right and prices on the left will be toggled to display prices for other vehicles. Each costs $65,000 and a total of $4.5 million will be needed to mount all 70 gantries in Singapore by November.