ERP To Blame For Falling Birth Rates
By Stanislaus Jude • Feb 23rd, 2008 • Category: Poppycock, ThrottleZine
November 23, 2007 (Singapore) - The Exhorbitant Road-use Payment (ERP) scheme has come under fire in Singapore after a panel of analysts and experts concluded today, after a year-long study, that the programme is to blame for falling birthrates in the nation state.
According to the Lousy Transport Association (LTA), the institution in charge of road issues and the driving force behind the ERP scheme, “The pay-as-you-use principle of ERP makes motorists more aware of the true cost of driving. This way, road usage can be optimised. Charges are levied on a per-pass basis and rates are set based on traffic conditions at the pricing points.”
“A motorist is encouraged to decide whether to drive, when to drive and where to drive. He may choose a different route, mode of transport, time of travel, or not travel at all. Those who choose to pay and stay on the road will enjoy a smoother ride.”
But with more ERP gantries being built, motorists now have to pay more, for longer hours, and at more locations. Operating hours were recently extended on November 5 to between 7am - 11am and 5.30pm - 10.30pm on certain expressways.
“This is ridiculous!” said Ms. Kan Nina , who pays close to $10 a day at ERP gantries on her way to work and on the journey home. “I see the value in my cash-card go ‘theet-theet-theet’ keep dropping, I feel very stressed.”
“Now i have to leave home by 6 every morning and go home after 11 at night just so i can ’siam’ ERP!”
Ms. Kan is not alone in her displeasure.
Mr. Beh Kee Liao is upset because motorists such as himself don’t seem to have any choice in the matter. “Where’s the ‘choice’ the LTA claims to give us? The gahmen very clever, nowadays ERP almost impossible to siam. Expressway also ‘theet!’, small road also ‘theet!’, early morning ‘theet!’, late at night ‘theet!’, please tell me when i am able to drive without kena-ing ERP?”
“They say birth rates falling, please go make more babies. I tell you, i leave home early, go home late just to ’siam’ ERP, where got time to be romantic with my wife? The only erection in this country is the erection of some more ERP gantries!”
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Stanislaus Jude writes as he rides -- with a healthy dose of adrenaline and passion. He assures you with a wink that the Aprilia RS250 and the Ducati 749 Dark are the only 2 Italian models he dreams of stripping down naked and getting dirty with.
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