New ERP 2 road markings, signs to be rolled out from October

SINGAPORE: Motorists will soon see new oval blue Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) symbols painted on certain roads and expressways, as well as new road signs indicating they are entering a "charge zone", as Singapore prepares to move away from physical ERP gantries. 

These new road markings and signs will be rolled out progressively from October, ahead of the launch of the ERP 2 system in January next year, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) said on Monday (Sep 28).

The ERP 2 system uses global navigation satellite system technology, removing the need for physical gantries on Singapore's roads. The gantries will be progressively removed across Singapore from October.

With the transition to the ERP 2 system, all Singapore-registered vehicles must be fitted with the ERP 2 on-board unit (OBU) to travel on public roads here. To date, more than 98 per cent of such eligible vehicles have been fitted with the OBU, said LTA.

The OBU will detect when a vehicle passes an ERP charging location and calculate the applicable charges.

The new road markings and signs will complement OBU notifications to alert motorists before they enter an ERP charging location, provide information on prevailing ERP charges, and indicate the amount charged when motorists pass through a charging location.

To ensure the road markings are clearly visible, two oval blue "ERP" symbols will be painted on each lane of arterial and slip roads. Expressways will have three symbols on each lane. 

Before each ERP charging location, a new "ERP Charge Zone" road sign will also be placed to serve as an additional visual cue for motorists.

There will be no change to the current congestion pricing framework. ERP rates are reviewed quarterly and the next review is in mid-November.

To inform the design of the new road markings and signs, LTA conducted a two-phase user experience study from March to July this year to assess the effectiveness of different sets of road markings and signs.

"The oval blue 'ERP symbol' emerged as the preferred option, achieving high visibility under different traffic and weather conditions, while being easily understood by motorists as a visual cue for an ERP charging location," said LTA.

It added that the implementation of the new road markings and signs across the existing 33 ERP operational locations will be completed ahead of the transition to ERP 2 on Jan 1, 2027.

Removal of the physical ERP gantries will be carried out in two phases, beginning with 62 non-operational gantries. The remaining 33 operational gantries will be removed after gantry-based ERP charging ceases on Dec 31.  

ERP gantry frames may be retained and repurposed with roadside units (RSUs) at some locations to support satellite connectivity, said LTA.

It expects to complete the modification or removal of all 95 ERP gantries by June 2027.

ENFORCEMENT AGAINST VEHICLE-RELATED OFFENCES

While the ERP 2 system is designed mainly for payment and charges, it will also improve LTA's ability to manage traffic across Singapore and to be better able to detect and enforce against vehicle-related offences, said the authority.

It currently uses ERP 1 gantry records to detect vehicles that should not be used on the country's roads, such as deregistered vehicles.

"We will continue to use ERP 2 to enforce against vehicle-related offences, such as the provision of illegal cross-border taxis services, to ensure safer roads for all users," it said.

LTA added that ERP 2 could also potentially be used for enforcement against speeding offences, but further enhancements are needed before any such use.