Latest news with #ElectronicRoadPricing
Straits Times
2 days ago
- Automotive
- Straits Times
Motorists can now get flash flood alerts on ERP on-board unit
The new feature adds to other real-time information available on the OBU. ST PHOTO: KUA CHEE SIONG Motorists can now get flash flood alerts on ERP on-board unit SINGAPORE - Motorists who have the Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) on-board units (OBUs) in their vehicles will now receive alerts about flash floods when approaching or travelling along affected roads. The Land Transport Authority (LTA) announced this in a Facebook post on June 30, adding that this feature will allow motorists to 'take alternative routes'. The new feature adds to other real-time information available on the OBU, including parking availability in certain areas, bus lane operations and alerts on speed cameras. Motorists said they welcome the new feature. 'I think it'll be pretty helpful information. I'll try to avoid that road if I see such warnings. Since it's so convenient to look at the OBU screen while driving, any information it can provide to me is an added bonus,' account manager Jerome Lim, 35, told The Straits Times . Mr Matthew Tan, 24, an executive, said: 'It will be good to have alerts that warn me of a flash flood, especially if I'm driving on my normal route without using GPS apps. I hope that the alerts will sound out early enough so I can make the necessary detours.' Flood alerts are also available on the myENV app and PUB's Flood Alerts Telegram channel. The next-generation satellite-based ERP system that comes with the OBU is also capable of charging motorists based on distance travelled. In December, then Transport Minister Chee Hong Tat said that the authorities are still at a very early stage of looking at different possible distance-based charging models. The Urban Redevelopment Authority and LTA have plans to use the OBU for payments for roadside parking. LTA had previously said that as at June, more than 500,000 vehicles have been fitted with OBUs. This means the installation exercise has crossed the halfway mark towards equipping the entire vehicle population of around one million units with OBUs by 2026. Join ST's WhatsApp Channel and get the latest news and must-reads.
Business Times
18-06-2025
- Automotive
- Business Times
COE woes: When emotions get in the way of efficiency
SINGAPORE'S policymakers have always had an eye on efficiency. But efficiency may not be a convincing aim for citizens – as seen, for instance, with the perennial hot topic of Certificate of Entitlement (COE) prices. In a recent interview with local media, Acting Transport Minister Jeffrey Siow disputed the popular narrative that demand from private-hire car (PHC) companies has pushed up COE prices. On the contrary, the PHC market helps to lower demand for private vehicles because it provides an alternative way to access private transport, he said. Without PHCs, there might be many more aspiring car owners competing for COEs. Crucially, the same single COE would serve many more commuters if it is allocated to a PHC, rather than to a privately-owned vehicle, he added. As with practically any politician's comments on COE prices, Siow's points drew impassioned responses online. Some argued that a COE given to a PHC results in greater congestion, as such drivers are on the road for much longer. Yet, this objection is arguably misaimed. It stems from a lack of clarity over the role of the COE system: as an allocation mechanism for vehicles, or a way to tackle congestion. In his interview, Siow made it clear that he sees the COE system as the former. Congestion, meanwhile, is being tackled by updates to Electronic Road Pricing. Indeed, the fact that a PHC is more active – and thus serves more Singaporeans – is precisely what Siow cited, in arguing for why it would better deserve a COE. Other objections, however, point to a more fundamental issue: the difficulty of applying cold hard logic in policy areas where decisions are influenced by emotion. Wants and needs Given Singapore's policy of zero vehicle population growth, it seems only logical to say that the best allocation of a COE is one that helps more people: that is, to a PHC. The problem is that logic is not the only foundation for policy, particularly in an area as fraught as private transport. Singapore's civil servants and politicians – not least politicians who used to be civil servants – are well-versed in fundamental concepts of behavioural economics, from nudge theory to moral hazard. Policies are crafted with a careful eye on what sort of behaviour they might incentivise, intended or otherwise. But beyond objective gain and loss, there are other forces that must be factored in, and which are far less measurable. There are, of course, many commuters who are concerned merely with the convenience of transport, and who will gladly choose not to own a car if there are better alternatives. However, someone who innately aspires to own a car – because of the image associated with this, the social status it conveys, or simply the joy of driving – will not be swayed. Transport, housing, education, jobs – all of these have been and will likely continue to be hot-button issues because they are tied closely to citizens' aspirations. In this irrational realm of hopes and dreams, objective efficiency is not the metric by which decisions are made. No amount of insisting that every school is a good school, for instance, will stop certain parents from moving house simply to be near brand-name schools. These impulses cannot be addressed by carefully crafted policies alone. Mindsets themselves must change – and policymakers may have to accept that some irrationality will always remain.
Straits Times
16-06-2025
- Automotive
- Straits Times
Acting Transport Minister Jeffrey Siow on COE system, private-hire cars and other transport issues
Acting Transport Minister Jeffrey Siow sought to counter the narrative that private-hire vehicle companies are driving up COE prices. PHOTO: ST FILE SINGAPORE – There will be no major tweaks to the certificate of entitlement (COE) system in the short term, and the focus now is on ensuring that all vehicles are equipped with on-board units (OBUs) for the next-generation Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) system, said Acting Transport Minister Jeffrey Siow. 'The reality is there won't be space for every Singaporean to own a car in Singapore,' he told reporters in an interview on June 11, noting that the COE system is how the Government is allocating this 'scarce good'. Touching on a range of other transport issues, Mr Siow also sought to counter the narrative that private-hire vehicle companies are driving up COE prices, thereby depriving Singaporeans of the chance to own a car. A COE is needed to register and use a vehicle here. On usage-based charging Asked if Singapore will shift to usage-based charging, Mr Siow said this is something that the authorities can look at in the next phase of the roll-out of the new ERP system, known as ERP 2.0. He said the Government had to switch to ERP 2.0 largely because the current system is obsolete. 'It was not possible for us to continue running the current ERP system... without problems, because the parts were just not getting manufactured.' Mr Siow was director of land transport when NCS and MHI Engine System won a $556 million tender in 2016 to build ERP 2.0, which has the ability to charge for distance travelled. He said the focus now is to ensure that every car is installed with a new ERP 2.0 OBU, and this will take time to complete. As at June, more than 500,000 vehicles have been fitted with OBUs. This means the installation exercise has crossed the halfway mark towards equipping the entire vehicle population of around one million units with OBUs by 2026. On COE allocation On whether private-hire cars have driven up COE premiums, Mr Siow said this discussion needs to take into account the fact that private-hire vehicles have given people access to private transport on a pay-per-use basis. 'If we didn't have private-hire cars today, actually the reverse would be true, that a large number of these people will feel that they need to buy a car, and then... they will bid the price of the COE up,' he argued. Noting that the economics of a private-hire car are 'much more efficient', Mr Siow asked: 'If you had one COE left to allocate, is it better to allocate it to a private car owner, who then drives maybe two trips a day and leaves the car in the garage? 'Or is it better to share the car among a much larger group of Singaporeans who can have access to the use of a car when they need it? Surely it must be the latter, right?' However, if there are fundamental changes to driving habits in the long term, the Government can then review how it manages the COE allocation mechanism, Mr Siow added. On private-hire driver hours The Acting Minister was also asked for his views on the time that private-hire drivers spend on the road. This is in the light of the recent death of 49-year-old ride-hailing driver Gavin Neo from a stroke. Friends said Mr Neo often spent up to 15 hours behind the wheel to provide for his teenage son and daughter. Mr Siow said the Land Transport Authority (LTA) does not regulate the number of hours that private-hire drivers should be on the road, and the unions have not called for such regulations either, as different drivers have different needs. He said LTA will step in if accident rates for private-hire vehicles are much higher than private vehicles, but this has not been the case. He also pointed to the Workplace Safety and Health Council's guidelines, which encourage drivers to limit their shifts to no more than 12 hours. Mr Siow said the question is whether ride-hailing platform Grab's incentive scheme should be tweaked, noting that there is a very high-achieving incentive tier that few drivers are on. 'I have a lot of sympathy for (Mr Neo)... The union has reached out to (the family), and we want to see how we can help the family in that particular instance.' On EVs On Singapore's electric vehicle (EV) push, Mr Siow said EVs are a 'game changer' for urban design, as roads can be built much closer to buildings, or even through them. This is because EVs are silent and non-polluting, he noted. He also pointed to the Government's commitment to phase out vehicles that run purely on internal combustion engines. The authorities have mandated that all new car registrations must be of cleaner-energy models from 2030. 'It is a matter of managing the transition,' Mr Siow said . 'It just takes time for people to switch. We don't want to force them to suddenly have to give up their vehicle for a new one.' On late-night public transport On whether the authorities would make late-night public transport more accessible, Mr Siow said the main constraint for night buses is manpower. 'Between choosing to deploy a night bus versus choosing to deploy a new bus service, I have to weigh which is the more immediate priority. So, on that front, we can see opportunistically whether it is worth doing. But I think on the whole, the priority has to be augmenting the HDB estates and the bus networks,' he added. For the rail system, time is needed each night for maintenance work, and unlike cities like London, it is not possible to completely shut down segments of an MRT line for maintenance here. This may change in future for the Circle Line, however, once the loop between HarbourFront and Marina Bay stations is closed, as it could allow for 24-hour maintenance work to be done on some sections of the line while maintaining connectivity. Mr Siow said: 'At the margins, we can think about extending service hours a little bit, but quite frankly, looking at the priorities, we are under more pressure to create more time for maintenance and to, in fact, reduce service hours, rather than the other way around.' Join ST's WhatsApp Channel and get the latest news and must-reads.
New Paper
11-06-2025
- Automotive
- New Paper
Issues reported in 5,400 out of 300k cars with ERP on-board unit installed
Around 5,400 cars have had problems with their Electronic Road Pricing on-board units (OBUs) since installation started in November 2023, including issues with wiring that have necessitated return visits to workshops. This represents 1.8 per cent of around 300,000 cars that have had the unit installed so far, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) told The Straits Times on June 10. LTA said that as at June, more than 500,000 vehicles - including other vehicle types such as commercial vehicles - have been fitted with OBUs. This means the installation exercise has crossed the halfway mark towards equipping the entire vehicle population of around 1 million units with OBUs by 2026. The OBUs are used for road toll and carpark payments, among other things, as part of Singapore's move to the new ERP system, known as ERP 2.0. LTA said: "As with any large-scale technology roll-out, some vehicles may experience issues that require follow-up checks." Some motorists told ST they could not enter carparks or pay road charges with their OBUs, which became unresponsive. A spokesman for Lim Tan Motor in Sin Ming said owners of around 5 per cent of the 200 or so cars on which the workshop has installed OBUs had gone back for help, mostly because carpark gantries could not detect the units. He said this is more common at private and commercial building carparks than at those operated by the Housing Board. Another complaint is that the touchscreen display of the OBU freezes. OBU installation is free for all vehicles registered before May 1, 2024, if the unit is installed by the deadline stated in an LTA invitation letter to owners. All vehicles registered from May 1, 2024, are fitted with the unit. Depending on the vehicle, an OBU installation takes between two and four hours, and it can take just as long to troubleshoot and replace the unit. For vehicles other than motorcycles, the OBU consists of three parts: an antenna, a processing unit that holds the stored-value card, and an optional touchscreen display. Service and workshop manager Lester Yeong, 48, said the OBU touchscreen display on the van leased by his company, an industrial equipment supplier, showed a blank screen in April - five months after the unit was installed. The leasing company that provided the van managed to fix the issue once at its workshop, but the problem resurfaced two days later. This time, the faulty OBU was replaced. The OBU touchscreen display on Mr Christian Gani's BMW sport utility vehicle acted up two months after it was installed, with the display stuck in booting-up mode. In May, the information technology professional at a bank had to call for help via the buzzer at his office carpark gantry, because the system could not detect the OBU in his car, which had been registered for season parking. The OBU remained in the booting-up mode throughout his journey home. There was no beep from the system when he passed an operational ERP gantry, but he did not receive any fine for that. The screen continued to be stuck in this mode the next day, prompting Mr Gani to drive the car to the BMW agent, which eventually replaced the OBU. "The OBU just failed suddenly without warning and caused me so much inconvenience. Hopefully, it doesn't fail on me again," said Mr Gani. The OBU on Mr Nigel Yong's Mini Cooper failed within days of being installed. As he opted not to have a touchscreen display, the 35-year-old public relations manager did not notice anything amiss until he could not leave the carpark near his Housing Board flat in February. He had to ask the carpark staff for help and verify his vehicle registration number before the gantry was lifted. The OBU resumed working after a few days and functioned normally until it suddenly became unresponsive in May. Mr Yong could not wait for an appointment with the workshop that installed his OBU, so he visited another workshop that told him he would have to pay for a replacement unit unless he returned to the previous workshop. He paid $380 for the replacement instead of bearing with the inconvenience of having to return to the first workshop. The OBUs have a five-year warranty against manufacturing defects, under which parts are replaced at no charge. LTA advised motorists who experience issues with their OBUs to return to the workshops that installed the units. This is because those workshops would have the necessary records "for more effective troubleshooting". "In a small number of cases where more specialised attention is needed, the workshop may refer motorists to another workshop with the relevant expertise," the authority added. Motorists who need clarification can contact the ERP 2.0 Call Assist Service on 6377-2255.
Business Times
10-06-2025
- Automotive
- Business Times
About 5,400 cars have encountered issues with ERP on-board unit after installation
[SINGAPORE] Around 5,400 cars have had problems with their Electronic Road Pricing on-board units (OBUs) since installation started in November 2023, including issues with wiring that have necessitated return visits to workshops. This represents 1.8 per cent of around 300,000 cars that have had the unit installed so far, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) told The Straits Times on Tuesday (Jun 10). LTA said that as at June, more than 500,000 vehicles – including other vehicle types such as commercial vehicles – have been fitted with OBUs. This means the installation exercise has crossed the halfway mark towards equipping the entire vehicle population of around 1 million units with OBUs by 2026. The OBUs are used for road toll and carpark payments, among other things, as part of Singapore's move to the new ERP system, known as ERP 2.0. LTA said: 'As with any large-scale technology roll-out, some vehicles may experience issues that require follow-up checks.' Some motorists told ST they could not enter carparks or pay road charges with their OBUs, which became unresponsive. BT in your inbox Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox. Sign Up Sign Up A spokesman for Lim Tan Motor in Sin Ming said owners of around 5 per cent of the 200 or so cars on which the workshop has installed OBUs had gone back for help, mostly because carpark gantries could not detect the units. He said this is more common at private and commercial building carparks than at those operated by the Housing Board. Another complaint is that the touchscreen display of the OBU freezes. OBU installation is free for all vehicles registered before May 1, 2024, if the unit is installed by the deadline stated in an LTA invitation letter to owners. All vehicles registered from May 1, 2024, are fitted with the unit. Depending on the vehicle, an OBU installation takes between two and four hours, and it can take just as long to troubleshoot and replace the unit. For vehicles other than motorcycles, the OBU consists of three parts: an antenna, a processing unit that holds the stored-value card, and an optional touchscreen display. Service and workshop manager Lester Yeong, 48, said the OBU touchscreen display on the van leased by his company, an industrial equipment supplier, showed a blank screen in April – five months after the unit was installed. The leasing company that provided the van managed to fix the issue once at its workshop, but the problem resurfaced two days later. This time, the faulty OBU was replaced. The OBU touchscreen display on Christian Gani's BMW sport utility vehicle acted up two months after it was installed, with the display stuck in booting-up mode. In May, the information technology professional at a bank had to call for help via the buzzer at his office carpark gantry, because the system could not detect the OBU in his car, which had been registered for season parking. The OBU remained in the booting-up mode throughout his journey home. There was no beep from the system when he passed an operational ERP gantry, but he did not receive any fine for that. The screen continued to be stuck in this mode the next day, prompting Gani to drive the car to the BMW agent, which eventually replaced the OBU. 'The OBU just failed suddenly without warning and caused me so much inconvenience. Hopefully, it doesn't fail on me again,' said Gani. The OBU on Nigel Yong's Mini Cooper failed within days of being installed. As he opted not to have a touchscreen display, the 35-year-old public relations manager did not notice anything amiss until he could not leave the carpark near his Housing Board flat in February. He had to ask the carpark staff for help and verify his vehicle registration number before the gantry was lifted. The OBU resumed working after a few days and functioned normally until it suddenly became unresponsive in May. Yong could not wait for an appointment with the workshop that installed his OBU, so he visited another workshop that told him he would have to pay for a replacement unit unless he returned to the previous workshop. He paid S$380 for the replacement instead of bearing with the inconvenience of having to return to the first workshop. LTA advised motorists who experience issues with their OBUs to return to the workshops that installed the units. This is because those workshops would have the necessary records 'for more effective troubleshooting'. 'In a small number of cases where more specialised attention is needed, the workshop may refer motorists to another workshop with the relevant expertise,' the authority added. Motorists who need clarification can contact the ERP 2.0 Call Assist Service on 6377-2255. THE STRAITS TIMES
