Singapore has used road pricing since 1975 to manage congestion. The road pricing scheme has evolved from a manual paper permit system during morning peak periods only, to the current electronic system that operates throughout most of the day. The electronic road pricing system uses in-vehicle units with smart cards for payment at gantry toll points. Charges vary based on vehicle type, location, and time of day. The system was expanded over time to include evening peak periods and to establish separate pricing zones. The goal is to reduce congestion and give drivers pricing incentives to choose less congested routes or times of travel. Public transportation is a key alternative to driving under the road pricing system.

1. Road Pricing in Singapore
Presentation
on

2. 同济大学交通运输工程学院 COLLEGE OF TRANSPORTATION ENGINEERING, TONGJI UNIVERSITY
INTRODUCTION
Singapore is an island-state with a land area of just over 690 square km,
measuring 42 km across and 23 km from north to south. On this island
live more than 4 million people, making it one of the most densely
populated countries. Its transport needs are served with vehicles totalling
730,000, of which 420,000 are cars.
In the field of transportation, road pricing has long been associated with
Singapore. Indeed, the practical application of road pricing started in
Singapore in June 1975. Many changes have been made to the road
pricing scheme since that time. Initially a manual scheme based on paper
permits and applicable during the morning peak period only, it has
evolved over the past 30 years to an electronic version that operates
presently almost throughout the day.

3. 同济大学交通运输工程学院 COLLEGE OF TRANSPORTATION ENGINEERING, TONGJI UNIVERSITY
PIONEERS: CONGESTION PRICING OF CITY CENTERS
• Singapore’s Area License Scheme
• Hong Kong’s Electronic Road Pricing Trial
• Congestion-specific Charging For Cambridge, England
• The Scandinavian Toll Rings
(i) Norway’s Three Urban Toll Rings
(ii) The Dennis Package for Stockholm
(iii) Lessons from the Scandinavian Toll Rings

4. Congestion Pricing – just one component of a
Transport Strategy
 Cannot work on its own
Singapore:
 Public Transport is key alternative
 A Traffic Management Tool – Not for
revenue generation

5. Area Licensing Scheme

6. Area Licensing Scheme
 Daily and monthly paper licences.

7. Area Licensing Scheme
 Manually enforced.

8. Area Licensing Scheme
 Cordon-based marked by gantries
 Paper licences (for payment on entries)
 Enforcement - manual

9. Singapore’s Electronic Road Pricing
 Cordon-based marked by gantries
 Electronic In-Vehicle Unit with smart-card (for
payment on entries)
 Enforcement – camera images
 Back-end Central Control System

11. 同济大学交通运输工程学院 COLLEGE OF TRANSPORTATION ENGINEERING, TONGJI UNIVERSITY
Road Pricing Charges
 Varies by vehicle type
 Varies by location of gantry
 Varies by time of day - ranges from S$0.50 to S$4.00 per pass
Payment Modes
 Deducted at point of use from smart-card
 Post-payment with administrative charges
 Credit card payment

12. 同济大学交通运输工程学院 COLLEGE OF TRANSPORTATION ENGINEERING, TONGJI UNIVERSITY
Extending the Singapore’s Electronic Road Pricing
 Aug 05 – ERP extended to manage evening peak hour congestion for
home-bound trips (on the Central Expressway, CTE
Evening ERP for home-bound trips
 Aug 05 – ERP extended to manage evening peak hour
congestion for home-bound trips (on the Central Expressway,
CTE)
 Travel time between 6 – 8 pm improved.
 Motorists have a choice.

13. 同济大学交通运输工程学院 COLLEGE OF TRANSPORTATION ENGINEERING, TONGJI UNIVERSITY
Evening ERP for home-bound trips
Extending the Singapore’s Electronic
Road Pricing
 Oct 05 – Two distinct pricing
cordons in city – Orchard and CBD
with different operating hours and
charges
 Orchard cordon has different traffic
characteristics
 Intent is to reduce through traffic on
Orchard corridor

14. 同济大学交通运输工程学院 COLLEGE OF TRANSPORTATION ENGINEERING, TONGJI UNIVERSITY
ERP for Orchard Cordon
o Additional
o Gantries
o Orchard
o CBD

15. 同济大学交通运输工程学院 COLLEGE OF TRANSPORTATION ENGINEERING, TONGJI UNIVERSITY
Pricing intra-city traffic in the City (July 08)
Operates 6-8pm we

16. 同济大学交通运输工程学院 COLLEGE OF TRANSPORTATION ENGINEERING, TONGJI UNIVERSITY
Pricing intra-city traffic in the City (July 08)

17. 同济大学交通运输工程学院 COLLEGE OF TRANSPORTATION ENGINEERING, TONGJI UNIVERSITY
Making ERP Rates Visible

18. THANK YOU!