The Electronic Road Pricing, otherwise known as ERP, is a Land Transport Authority (LTA) initiative where toll charges are levied on vehicles according to time and congestion levels. With this system of charging, a motorist is empowered to decide on the time, destination and route of his journey. The Land Transport Authority would also be able to monitor heavily congested highways and increase charges in the hope of reducing traffic.
The ERP system replaces the existing Area Licensing Scheme (ALS) and Road Pricing Scheme (RPS) with radio communication equipment, sensors and cameras. Vehicles are fitted with an in-vehicle unit (IU), and antennae on gantries detect these as vehicles approach ERP zones. Tolls are deducted automatically from a smart card slotted into the IU. The IU is fitted on the handlebars of motorcycles and at the bottom right-hand corner of the inside windscreen for other vehicles.
ERP was activated on 1 April 1998. The LTA implemented ERP first by automating the two RPS points on the East Coast Parkway (ECP) - one near Fort Road, and the other on the Ophir Road upramp to ECP. Next to be automated were the RPS points at the Pan-Island Expressway (PIE) and Central Expressway (CTE), and all ALS points. This completed Phase I of the ERP project. The system will subsequently be extended to other choke-points on other expressways and major arterial roads over the next one to two years.
Timeline
1975 : ALS introduced to manage congestion in the Central Business District (CBD).
1985 : Government officials study electronic road pricing trial in Hong Kong. Recommendation: Technically feasible, but technology still evolving.
Jul 1989 : Cabinet gives ERP the green light. Expected to be ready in five years.
Sep 1989 : Tenders invited for ERP project.
Feb 1990 : Team comprising representatives from Public Works Department (PWD), SingTel and National Computer Board studies toll systems in Seattle, Dallas, New Orleans and Washington, DC, in the United States.
Mar 1990 : High-level transport panel formed. Panel head, First Deputy Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong, says system should be up in four years at the earliest.
Apr 1990 : Team studies electronic toll systems in Paris, Florence, Trondheim and Oslo in Europe.
May 1990 : PWD indicates that ERP would be ready for 1992 launch.
Apr 1991 : Five contractors shortlisted for ERP system.
May 1991 : Government calls for re-tender of ERP system. Problems from first tenders: Whether systems can detect cars at high speeds in three or four lanes. Timetable changed; ERP to start in the CBD in 1996.
Sep 1991 : Government decides on smart card system, and to use "active" rather than "passive" system.
Oct 1991 : Pre-qualification tenders called; 17 groups submit proposals.
Feb 1992 : 10 out of 17 groups shortlisted.
Jul 1992 : Five consortiums shortlisted.
Aug 1992 : Government says interim road pricing to be introduced. Manual pricing first, until ERP system is ready.
Apr 1993 : Tenders narrowed to three contending parties. Each given till April 1994 to get ready for road tests in Tuas.
May 1993 : CashCard launched in pilot project. To be introduced island-wide in 1995.
Nov 1994 : Optical character recognition to be included, to allow automatic identification of offenders' licence plates by computers. Tender modified to accommodate this.
Mar 1995 : Final bidding for ERP system. General Electric Company-Marconi consortium enters lowest bid of S$185 million. Philips-led group bids S$197 million, and Teledata group bids S$408 million.
May 1995 : New tests. To include a more user-friendly IU.
Jun 1995 : Road pricing starts on ECP. Motorists buy paper licences to enter the expressway.
Oct 1995 : ERP tender goes to Philips Singapore group, with members Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Miyoshi Electronics and CEI Systems & Engineering, a subsidiary of Singapore Technologies. Bid was S$197 million, plus maintenance for five years for another S$39 million. The bid was the second-lowest but the group had the lowest error rate.
1996 : Bidding for IU and gantry installation.
1997 : More tests for the Philips ERP system, on an unopened stretch of Seletar Expressway.
Jul 1997 : Road tax structure revamped to impose more charges for using roads, rather than owning cars.
Sep 1997 : Installation of IUs starts. Target: Fit the devices in 680,000 vehicles within ten months. ERP gantries start to go up progressively. First one installed across the stretch of Ophir Road leading to ECP on 8 September.
Apr 1998 : ERP starts on ECP.
Aug 1998 : ERP starts on CTE.
Sep 1998 : ERP starts on PIE and for CBD areas.
Author
Bonny Tan
References
Chronology: The road to ERP [Microfilm: NL 20266]. (August 30, 1998). The Straits Times, p. 33.
ERP's starting soon: Here's how it will work [Microfilm: NL 20199]. (September 1, 1997). The Straits Times, Home, p. 33.
First ERP gantry installed across Ophir road [Microfilm: NL 20200]. (September 9, 1997). The Straits Times, p. 40.
Further Readings
ECP traffic smoother after road widening [Microfilm: NL 20212]. (November 7, 1997). The Straits Times, p. 40.
400 vehicles fitted with ERP gadget on first installation day [Microfilm: NL 20202]. (September 16, 1997). The Straits Times, News Focus, p. 3.
If roads are arteries, are we cutting off our circulation? [Microfilm: NL 20214]. (November 16, 1997). The Straits Times, p. 7.
The information in this article is valid as at 1999 and correct as far as we are able to ascertain from our sources. It is not intended to be an exhaustive or complete history of the subject. Please contact the Library for further reading materials on the topic.
