Manage drivers' behaviour to ease expressway congestion

Mr Donny Ho Boon Tiong's observation is correct - it is primarily drivers' behaviour on the expressways which determines the average speeds, rather than the actual traffic volume (Imposing ERP charges will not solve KPE traffic woes; May 2).

As a frequent expressway user myself, I find that it is not uncommon to seetraffic come to a grinding halt at particular locations when many drivers are trying to abruptly change lanes to exit.

This reflects a lack of planning and anticipation, skills which are sorely lacking among many drivers today.

Such skills cannot easily be taught to potential drivers, simply because expressway driving is not part of the driving test.

There is also precious little enforcement activity against commercial vehicles which ply the outer lanes of the expressways.

It is not uncommon to see commercial vehicles occupying two out of three, or three out of four lanes of the expressway.

I urge the Land Transport Authority to employ a more holistic approach to managing traffic congestion on our roads today, rather than continually depending on road pricing to reduce congestion whenever average speeds fall.

Kevin Lim Kheng Aun

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on May 04, 2017, with the headline Manage drivers' behaviour to ease expressway congestion. Subscribe