Motorists work on cost-saving measures to counter new ERP gantries

Lynda Hong, Channel NewsAsia 9 Jul 08;

SINGAPORE : Driving a car into the central business district (CBD) is now more expensive, after the five new Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) gantries started operations on Monday. To reduce costs, some motorists are choosing to car-pool.

"It's along the route to work. So with or without the passengers, we will still be travelling the same route," said Jessie Goh, a motorist who decided to car-pool.

However, some said to car-pool after work is a little difficult.

"I cannot (confirm) that I'll be going straight home (after work) everyday, so I won't be car-pooling back from work," said Rashid Johari, who also car-pools.

For Kiang Chee Khuen, his courier business deploys vans and lorries to handle the deliveries, but motorbikes are preferred for the business district to reduce ERP costs. And delivery is planned between 10am and noon when the gantries are not in operation.

ERP costs and fuel prices now account for about half his business costs. He estimates ERP rates for a motorbike to increase by 50 per cent to over S$5 daily, but passing on the cost to customers will be difficult.

"(Business) is getting slower. If you want to increase prices, customers, though they know that prices have to be increased, are not willing to pay (more) because it’s just a service (to them)," said Kiang, who owns The Courier People.

While smaller courier companies are feeling the pinch, bigger set-ups like SingPost are not expecting costs to go up significantly as ERP expenses form a small component of total operating costs.

SingPost said to mitigate such operating cost increases, it conducts route planning to maximise and optimise its routes and fleet in order to make deliveries in a more cost-efficient manner. - CNA /ls