Nicholas M Ong

Looks like Singaporeans are just about getting hit in every direction with reasons for hikes. Just slightly more than a month ago, taxi fares took a hike with ComfortDelGro leading the pack. The hikes went up to as high as 49% more then previously charged on the cab meters. With the price of crude oil skyrocketing from USD50 per barrel to USD100 per barrel in the last 18 months, energy cost was cited as the main culprit by the cab companies. Well, if you haven’t got enough of the taxi fare hikes, below are links to 2 local blogs that should give you a pretty good rundown on how the locals have taken to the hikes.

• Comfort Delgro plays number game but loses it on shift system
• A taxi driver earns S$9858 per month before expenses; how much are you earning?

My mum was just telling me yesterday that the cost of just about everything else has gone up too. Basic necessities like rice and cooking oil has went up on an average of 10%. Heck, even Dynamo (laundry wash detergent) which was slightly more than SGD9.00 per bottle is now more than SGD11.00. Amazing! Just last week, Sheng Siong ran out of those. When stocks were replenished this week, customers complained about the 20% increase in price.

Ok, so you think both you and I can outsmart the cab companies huh? Like me, you figured because of your travel patterns, it is more cost effective to drive to work than to take a cab huh? Furthermore, with the relatively lower prices of the COEs, the taxi fare hikes spurred your decision if not created an urgency to get a car sooner that you intended to? Well think again. ERP gantry prices are going up by at least SGD 0.50 on the heavily travelled highways. So, unless you are going to hit the road at 6:30am, you are going to get hit by the ERP gantries as early from 7:00am.

Ok, so we all need to rethink our strategy huh? Maybe I should stick to taking the trains huh? Guess what? Let’s have a wager. The next fare adjustments will be on the public buses and trains. Cool bananas huh? Maybe we should all go SOHO. Screw the travelling from point A to point B. Heck, with Skype and all the other advancements in information technology and video conferencing, who needs to spend 90 minutes to get to the office during peak hours and arrive with a hole in the pocket? Did you know that there is now a new ERP gantry erected at the Toa Payoh exit? Though it’s not yet operational, Toa Payoh is a heartland and not a business district is it? Will there be an ERP gantry at every heartland soon? Oih, maybe tomorrow we will all wake up to ERP gantries at the Woodlands and Tuas Checkpoints and Terminals 1, 2 and 3 of the Changi Airport huh? What happens then? Aiya… Singapore LOR… What can do?

Quoted from http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/325425/1/.html:

Channelnewsasia.com

ERP rates to go up by S$0.50 at certain gantries from Feb 4
By Satish Cheney, Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 28 January 2008 1735 hrs

	Photos 1of 1       An ERP gantry

 

SINGAPORE: Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) rates are set to go up by S$0.50 starting 4 February, according to the Land Transport Authority.

At the Bukit Timah Expressway gantry, motorists will be charged S$1.00 from 7.30am to 8am, and S$1.50 from 8am to 8.30am.

At the Central Expressway (CTE) gantry north of Braddell Road, ERP rates will go up to S$1.00 for those driving from 7.00am to 7.30am. The same charge applies to those driving along the Pan-Island Expressway (PIE) at Adam Road from 8am to 8.30am.

Those going through the nine gantries at Orchard Road, the YMCA and Fort Canning gantries will have to fork out S$1.00 on weekdays from 7pm to 8pm. The same charge applies for those gantries on Saturday afternoons as well, from 5.30pm to 6.30pm. - CNA/ac

Tags ERP Rates,Gantry,Energy Cost,Taxi Fare Hike,Sheng Siong,Buses and Trains