Vehicles With LKY Ribbon Exempt From ERP
SINGAPORE - For the first time, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) will launch a scheme in the third quarter of 2015 which exempts drivers in Singapore from Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) charges as long as the vehicle displays the black Lee Kuan Yew ribbon decal.
The transport scheme was announced by Mr Lim Soon Peng, chief executive of the LTA in commemoration of the founding father's passing last week.
"Singaporeans have been lamenting ever-increasing ERP fees ever since its inception in 1998. We at LTA have always recognised this problem and aim to rectify it by reducing unnecessary road costs off Singaporean drivers where possible," the chief executive explained.
When asked if the pricing exemption was limited to certain vehicles, Mr Lim Soon Peng said that all vehicles were enabled for the exemption as long as it displayed the black ribbon prominently enough to be obnoxiously visible.
"Cars, buses, vans or motorbikes are all applicable," adding that an overt display of patriotism from Singaporeans will never fail to go unrewarded.
The chief executive went on to explain how upgrades would be installed to the ERP gantries' sensors to be able to detect the black ribbon decal on moving vehicles.
By end 2017, the LTA hopes to extend this exemption to taxpaying as long as Singaporean's Facebook accounts continued to display the black ribbon decal as a profile picture.
