SINGAPORE - If ERP revenue goes up, will road tax come down?
MP Lee Bee Wah fired this question at Transport Minister Lui Tuck Yew yesterday in Parliament.
The answer? No, road taxes will not come down.
She said: "When ERP was introduced years ago, Minister of Transport at that time says that it was not a revenue generation, therefore the road tax will be adjusted accordingly.
"So with the revision of the ERP upwards, we will expect revenue to increase. Why is there no reduction in road tax?"
Mr Lui replied: "No reduction in road tax is planned as the ERP rate increases are a routine adjustment in response to the latest traffic conditions."
He also clarified that over the last two years, there were 11 ERP rate decreases compared to eight ERP increases.
"So I think that puts a certain perspective to the increase, and we must remember that taken over an extended period of time, there were actually more decreases than increases," said Mr Lui.
Just how much is collected from ERP charges?
In 2010, it was $159 million.
Government figures showed that the highest amount of about $32,000 was collected every day from the ERP charges at Nicoll Highway.
Has it become all too convenient to use Electronic Road Pricing in trying to control traffic congestion?
Ms Lee, an MP in Nee Soon GRC, later told The New Paper: "I can understand if there is ERP imposed in the morning. I can understand it will affect business meetings and all that.
"But I'm sure when it's time to go home, motorists won't mind a bit of traffic since they are not rushing for anything."
She added that most of the residents in her ward were affected, and were shocked, by the ERP fee hike at the Central Expressway (CTE) as most of them work in town.
On Nov 5, ERP charges for the four gantries along the CTE were raised by a dollar to $4 from 7.30am to 8am.
Ms Lee told Parliament: "And why is it that you need to increase the ERP, and is there any plan to scrap the evening ERP along CTE?"
There are no plans to do so, said Mr Lui.
"I hear your call to scrap the evening ERP altogether but we want to also make sure that we provide options to people who would like to have a smoother travelling experience in the evening," he said.
"And if you look at what has happened over the past year since the changes to the ERP, during the period before 8pm, you actually had an increase in traffic speed northbound along the CTE and after 8pm, particularly from 9pm onwards, you actually had the speeds coming down.
"And so I think shortening the hours preserves the option that for those who want to have a smoother ride home, they can pay the dollar, use it before 8pm. For others who choose not to do so, they can ride after 8pm."
Ms Lee asked: "Are you encouraging residents to go back after 8pm then?"
Mr Liu replied: "I'm offering a choice to residents."
