LTA revises ERP rates after latest quarterly review

Motorists using the East Coast Parkway (ECP) to get to the city in the morning will pay lower electronic road pricing (ERP) fees from May 5 next month. -- ST FILE PHOTO: KUA CHEE SIONG
Motorists using the East Coast Parkway (ECP) to get to the city in the morning will pay lower electronic road pricing (ERP) fees from May 5 next month. -- ST FILE PHOTO: KUA CHEE SIONG

Motorists using the East Coast Parkway (ECP) to get to the city in the morning will pay lower electronic road pricing (ERP) fees from May 5.

Announcing changes to ERP rates on Monday after a quarterly review of traffic conditions, the Land Transport Authority said a set of two gantries along the citybound ECP and Kallang-Paya Lebar Expressway (KPE) slip road will see reductions of $1 from 7.30am to 9am.

Likewise, the gantries on the westbound Marina Coastal Expressway (MCE) before the Maxwell Road exit and on the slip road to Marina Coastal Drive will see $1 reductions from 8.30am to 9am.

In the evening, motorists passing a gantry eastbound ECP before KPE will not have to pay a fee from 7.30pm to 8pm, after the rate is reduced by 50 cents.

Observers say the reduced rates are due to the MCE, which opened on Dec 29 last year and increased the road capacity in the area.

The ERP rate at four gantries leading to the southbound Central Expressway (CTE) will go down by $1 from 7.30am to 8am, due to smoother traffic conditions. The revised rate is $4.

However, the rate at the gantry along the southbound CTE slip road to PIE (Changi) or Serangoon Road will increase by $1 from 9am to 9.30am. Likewise, the ERP rate for motorists heading north on the CTE before the PIE will increase by $1 from 5.30pm to 6pm.

Along the Bukit Timah Expressway (BKE), ERP rates will decrease by $1 from 8.30am to 9.30am. Rates at all other gantries will remain the same.

The LTA said the next ERP review will take place in August this year.

Separately, new ERP gantries along the Ayer-Rajah Expressway (AYE) will be ready in the middle of this years. The LTA noted that traffic speeds at the stretches between Jurong Town Hall Road and North Buona Vista Road continue to fall below the optimal speed range of 45kmh to 65kmh in the morning and evening peak hours.

It will finalise the operating hours and ERP rates for the new ERP gantries along the AYE after taking into account the latest traffic speeds.

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