50-100% reduction in ERP rates for Dec school holidays

LOCAL and foreign motorists will pay lower road tolls come Nov 20.
Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) charges at nine gantries will be reduced by 50 cents or $1. Effectively some of the gantries will be free-of-charge, like the ones along the Aye-Rajah Expressway (AYE) or Bendemeer Road.
The Land Transport Authority (LTA) has been known to make reductions in ERP rates during school holidays as families head overseas and fewer parents drop their children off at school, reducing congestion on roads.
The revised rates will apply from Nov 20 to Dec 31. The lower rates will revert to the pre-school holiday period from Jan 3, 2011.
Rates for the other gantries will remain unchanged.
The next ERP rate review will take place in February 2011 for the first quarterly rate review of year 2011.

Comments:
WeiSiang: A little oxymoron here in the policies implemented between inter-agencies in Singapore over the policies for the usage of private transportation. Many would perhaps thought they have something to cheer about, but withold your joy, because, these revised rates only lasts till the end of 2010.

I believe with this reduction and the influx of nearby pacific region visitors, this would encourage tourist spending, and thus, help fuel the Singapore economy to a greater extent, hence, closing the 2010 GDP per capita ratio on a high.
If i were on the government shoes, i would proactively suggest the notion of waivering the ERP charges for the christmas season altogether. Thus, encourage consumer spending within the country and from the tourist as well.

Koofang: The government is rather contradicting. One moment, they increase the price of the COE and at the same time, reduce the price of ERP on the assumption that lesser vehicles will be driving. The holiday season is nearing and many students are having their holiday breaks now. By reducing the price of ERP, more people will be travelling to the town areas which doesn't help in bringing the number of vehicles on the road down. The government should make a stand on what is their main purpose of reducing the price of ERP when they increased the price of COE at the same time. Perhaps, this could help the citizens have a better understanding and work together with the government to achieve their goals.

WeeSoon: Once again the government have done a splendid job in implementing this policy. As the government knows that most people will go overseas during thier holiday, it is a smart move by reducing the amount needed for ERP. This is like killing two birds with one stone, as this not only encourages singaporean to stay in singapore during the school holidays but it also benefit those which does not intend to travel at all. This benefit them as they will not need to pay so much during the school holidays as compare to the usual days.

Chrystal: I strongly disagree to what the government has done here. This is because I feel that reducing the ERP rates is actually contradicting to encouraging Singaporeans to drive less and take public transport more! The government has been increasing our COE constantly. And now, they are reducing the ERP rates. The government should take a strong stand and not contradict to what they have been doing. The reduction in ERP rates will only encourage Singaporeans to drive more and that defeats the purpose of them trying various ways to make us take the public transport. Hence, I feel that they should not reduce the ERP rates. Instead, they should come up with more ways to persuade us to travel by public transport to reduce everyone's carbon footprints!

Zeena: I do not understand wat the goverment is trying to imply here. On 1 hand they are trying to promote the use of public transport by raising the prices of COE, on the other hand they are reducing the prices of ERP as they assumed that there are lesser people who will travel around singapore during the holiday season. First of all i don't believe that the goverment is reducing the price of ERP as they assumed that there will be lesser people travelling around singapore. I believe they reduced the prices of ERP so that travelling around singapore would be much more convient for families as families would have more time to bring their kids around during the holiday. So by giving familes the benefit of lowering prices for the ERP, where are the benefits for those working in those affected areas? They would have to face the congestion which was already very bad when ERP is in place. Now they have to face another problem, families taking days off to bring their kids around town area.