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Tag: ERP

  • Commentary: Vote Wisely In The Next Election

    Commentary: Vote Wisely In The Next Election

    The train collision marked a new low for SMRT and our Nation. Louder comes the call for heads to roll from the very top. What is at the root of the SMRT failures?

    SMRT is a corporation (private) that is owned by the Government. Supposedly, this model of corporatizing public services serve to benefit all stake holders. We hear this idealistic scenario again recently in Parliament, when Mr Khaw Boon Wan made the same points in response to questions. But have all stakeholders benefited as claimed or only their select few?

    A private corporation exist for profit while a public service exists to serve the public. So there is a fundamental problem to begin with when the Government decides to run public services like a business. Try as you will but you cannot have the cake and eat it too.

    After more than 50 years of running the country like a business against all wisdoms cautioning the dangers of profiting off public services, Singaporeans are witnessing the inevitable happen. The so-called efficiency comes at a huge expense to the public. When public officers meant to serve public interest failed their fiduciary duties as the structure of check and balances are compromised by colluding conflict of interests producing a public/private self-serving mess that we now inherited.

    When the next election comes, we must correct this by voting our rights to take back this Nation and stop their failed projects (HDB, COE, ERP, CPF, 6.9 Million people, etc.) on their tracks.

     

     

    Source: Damanhuri Bin Abas

  • Chee Soon Juan: Rising Charges Heavy Burden On Citizens In Time Of Economic Uncertainty

    Chee Soon Juan: Rising Charges Heavy Burden On Citizens In Time Of Economic Uncertainty

    The PAP has done it again. The govt announced this week that ERP charges at 4 gantries (2 at PIE and 2 at CTE) will be increased. Another ERP will be activated along the KPE. Then today, PAP Town Councils announced that S&CC will be increased in June.

    We’ve said repeatedly that when you give PAP a blank cheque, they’ll happily cash it after the elections. What’s more, it’s coming at a time when retrenchments are piling up and wages are under pressure because our economy isn’t doing well..

     

    Source: Chee Soon Juan 徐顺全

  • LTA Considers Activating ERP Gantry For KPE

    LTA Considers Activating ERP Gantry For KPE

    The Land Transport Authority (LTA) said on Friday (Sept 30) that it is considering whether it is feasible to activate the Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) gantry located just before the Kallang-Paya Lebar Expressway (KPE) tunnel entrance, after the Tampines Road entry slip road.

    According to the LTA, the traffic speeds along that stretch of the KPE between the Tampines Expressway and Airport Road have “persistently fallen below the optimal speed range of 45kmh to 65kmh for expressways during the morning peak hours on weekdays”.

    This, the LTA said, has led to significant and persistent traffic congestion.

    “We need to monitor the traffic situation in the next quarter, before making the decision on whether we will turn the gantry on,” said a spokesperson for the LTA, adding that this particular gantry has not been activated since the KPE was open.

    “We will have to see if people start using alternative routes and the situation changes,” the spokesman added.

    Meanwhile, the LTA said it has been stepping up improvements for public transport options to help cater to the growing population in the north-east area of Singapore, such as the introduction of two new City Direct bus services from the fourth quarter of 2016, and recently adding 15 new trains to the North East Line.

     

    Source: TODAY Online

  • Jakarta Seeks To Introduce ERP By End Of This Year

    Jakarta Seeks To Introduce ERP By End Of This Year

    JAKARTA — The Jakarta provincial government is expected to begin an intensive public campaign to educate motorists on its Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) system in the next few months.

    The city’s administration wants to implement ERP by the end of 2015. It has been studying the system to reduce traffic congestion since 2006.

    “We have prepared the concept for an intensive socialisation in two to three months’ time on how the community can be informed of the ERP concept in a big and complete way,” said Mr Leo Armstrong, head of the ERP management unit at Jakarta Transportation Agency. “The government will lead the campaign.”

    Two ERP gantries have been erected at two busy roads to test the system. Trials have already been completed and the local government says the results are encouraging.

    PUBLICITY STUNT

    However, transport analysts are not convinced. “This is like a publicity stunt where they just put some fancy gantries in the middle of the road,” said Mr Yoda Adiwinarto, country manager at the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy.

    “The transport agency claimed that they want to try the effectiveness of the gantry; they want to try whether the on-board unit will work well. The problem is that all the on-board units that they installed were only for the official vehicles. So why bother putting the giant gantries on the public roads? Just try it somewhere nobody knows.”

    The tender for the implementation of the ERP system is expected to be released in June. A one-day workshop will also be conducted among various stakeholders to discuss road pricing regulations.

    One of the challenges facing the implementation of ERP concerns motorists using small shortcut roads. Jakarta has a complicated network of roads which includes small shortcut roads.

    The provincial government is well aware that motorists may try to bypass the ERP by using shortcut roads. But while taking such a route may save some money, it may not save time because during peak hours shortcut roads are even more congested.

    Jakarta governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama has set a target for the ERP system to be completed by the end of 2015.

    Transport analysts believe this may not happen because of the lack of progress on the ground. In addition, the project has been hit by numerous delays over the years.

    MIXED VIEWS

    Motorists have mixed views about the effectiveness of electronic road pricing.

    “Sometimes electronic pricing can be a solution for the traffic but sometimes I think a collaboration system electronic and manual system could be integrated to be a solution in Jakarta because not all the people in Jakarta support electronics,” said one motorist.

    “I think we need more, wider roads,” added another motorist. “The ERP will not have any effect on congestion.”

    Jakarta is struggling to keep vehicle population down, and it hopes electronic road pricing, which means higher costs for private vehicles, will help to solve the problem.

    At the same time, it is improving the public transport infrastructure to encourage motorists to turn to buses and trains instead.

     

    Source: www.todayonline.com

  • Virtual Cash Card Aims To Solve ERP Woes

    Virtual Cash Card Aims To Solve ERP Woes

    That sinking feeling motorists get as they approach a gantry and realise their CashCard is too low on funds to cover the toll can now be a thing of the past.

    In what could be the next big thing in cashless payments here, a new virtual wallet from Nets will save the day for those who forget to top up.

    It allows motorists to pay electronic road pricing (ERP) charges even when they have no physical CashCard in their in-vehicle units (IUs) or if a CashCard is there but has run low on funds.

    Nets is launching the vCashCard with the Land Transport Authority (LTA) on Thursday.

    Nets chief executive Jeffrey Goh said in an exclusive interview: “It’s time to implement a virtual CashCard to bring convenience to motorists, so that they don’t have to worry about administrative fees.”

    Motorists caught with insufficient funds or without a CashCard in their IUs pay an administrative fee of $10, on top of the ERP charges they owe.

    To use the new service, motorists should register for a vCashCard account via the Nets website at vcashcard.nets.com.sg

    This account is first topped up with $50 from the registered credit or debit card or bank account.

    ERP charges are deducted directly from the vCashCard account when there is no physical CashCard in the IU.

    If you have a card in the IU when passing through a gantry, it works as usual and ERP charges will be deducted from it.

    When funds in the vCashCard fall below $10, the virtual wallet will automatically be topped up with $50 from one of your accounts linked to the wallet. Mr Goh said: “It’s worry-free, there’s no monthly maintenance fee except for a top-up fee from time to time when you run out of cash.”

    Subscription to vCashCard is free, and the top-up fee each time is 50 cents, but that will be waived for motorists who sign up with a United Overseas Bank card or Internet banking account, for the first year. Mr Goh said Nets is open to working with other banks as well for this promotion, adding that banks can consider promoting this “as part of their service”.

    The vCashCard is just one of several new initiatives that the payment network – also known as the Network for Electronic Transfers Singapore – is rolling out this year as it turns 30. “Nets, with the Government, is providing convenience and easing worry for motorists, and a means to somewhat enable a cashless Singapore, through everything that we do,” said Mr Goh.

    Nets is also working on a second phase of the service, so that it can also be used at electronic parking system carparks.

    Student Koe Zi Yan, 21, said he would prefer to save on the top-up fee, and he tops up more than $50 to his CashCard each time. “If the system lets me set the amount to top up each time, I’ll consider using it.”

     

    Source: www.straitstimes.com