Skip to main content

Singapore awards tender for next-generation electronic road pricing system

Singapore’s Land Transport Authority (LTA) has awarded the tender to develop the next-generation electronic road pricing (ERP) system to the consortium of NCS and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Engine System Asia. The LTA believes it is not practical to continue with the current gantry system, which is almost two decades old and will become increasingly expensive and difficult to maintain. The consortium will develop the next-generation ERP system based on global navigation satellite system (GNSS) Technolog
February 26, 2016 Read time: 2 mins
Singapore’s Land Transport Authority (LTA) has awarded the tender to develop the next-generation electronic road pricing (ERP) system to the consortium of NCS and 4962 Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Engine System Asia.

The LTA believes it is not practical to continue with the current gantry system, which is almost two decades old and will become increasingly expensive and difficult to maintain. The consortium will develop the next-generation ERP system based on global navigation satellite system (GNSS) Technology, at a cost of US$556 million.

The new system will allow for more flexibility in managing traffic congestion through distance-based road pricing, where motorists are charged according to the distance travelled on congested roads, which the LTA says would be fairer to motorists.

The existing in-vehicle unit (IU) will be replaced by a new on-board unit (OBU), which can also be used to deliver additional services to motorists, such as traffic advisories, parking payment checkpoint tolls and usage of off-peak cars electronically.

LTA’s Chief Executive Mr Chew Men Leong said, “Since introduction, the road pricing system has been effective in managing traffic congestion. The next-generation road pricing system will allow us to improve on this, with greater flexibility. It will also allow us to provide more services for motorists’ convenience, such as disseminating information on traffic advisories and facilitating e-payments.”

The new system is expected to be implemented progressively from 2020.  To ensure a seamless transition, there will an 18-month switchover period to transit from the current ERP system to the new system. The government will also bear the one-time IU replacement costs for Singapore-registered vehicles.

Related Content

  • Road user charging – change the name to change public perceptions
    February 2, 2012
    Jack Opiola explores the oft-underestimated effect that a charging scheme's name can have on public acceptability and ultimate success. The Bard of Avon wrote: "What's in a name?" For transport, especially Road User Charging, that is an especially relevant question.
  • Study highlights regressive effects of road pricing and tolling
    April 9, 2014
    Road pricing can have a detrimental effect on the mobility and employment levels of low income households. Colin Sowman talks to Floridea Di Ciommo to discover why. Since the road pricing and tolling were first introduced it has been acknowledged that such schemes could have a disproportional impact on low income households but a study in Madrid, Spain, has revealed just how regressive such measures can be. The findings revealed that the consequences of a proposed road pricing scheme would be a 17% increas
  • MBTA chooses Cubic to deliver next-generation fare payment system
    November 22, 2017
    Cubic Transportation Systems (CTS) has been selected by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) to install a fare payment system for the region’s multi-modal transit system to allow payment flexibility for customers. The base contract award includes an approximate $575 million (£433 million) for implementation with ten years of operations and maintenance as well two five-year extension options. The agreement also involves a public-private partnership, in which Cubic and John Laing will
  • Success of Slovakia’s ETC system
    July 16, 2015
    Slovakia’s complex electronic toll collection (ETC) system has seen steady growth since it opened in 2010; toll collection in 2013 totalled US$161 million, while in 2014 US$200 million of told were collected. The first quarter of 2015 saw a total of US14.4 million of tolls collected. At the end of March 2015, 245,408 on-board units (OBUs) were registered with the system; 72 per cent of OBUs are registered to foreign drivers. Designed, developed and operated by Skytoll on behalf of the National Motorwa