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SINGAPORE : For drivers who have lost track of changes to the Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) system and are clueless about new gantry locations and their graduated charges, help is at hand.
Online driving guide Oneshift.com has come up with an interactive map (which can be seen at www.oneshift.com/erp) displaying the ERP gantries in Singapore, including those that will come into operation on July 7, next month and in November.
Users can click on a gantry for a pop-up speech bubble displaying its operating hours and charges. Using Google Maps technology, there will also be a tool that allows drivers to plot the route to their destinations.
“More often than not, people are unsure where the gantries are until they actually encounter them. By then, it’s too late and they would have to pay,” said Oneshift’s founder and managing director Evan Lee, 32.
Oneshift, set up in 2006, is an online motoring magazine and its new function, launched on June 28, was a “natural progression” from the site’s merchant database search function. It was also spurred on by the “mushrooming” of ERP gantries.
Going forward, more improvements are in the pipeline. These include enabling the pop-up bubble to move in tandem with any shifting of the map, allowing users to plot alternative routes to their destinations, and a function that tabulates drivers’ ERP costs when they drive at a certain time of the day.
Oneshift is also in talks with advertisers to generate income from this service. Drivers who tried out Oneshift’s gantry guide felt it was useful but needed tweaking to make it more intuitive and user-friendly.
“In its current state, I think it’ll attract a limited audience. It’s useful, but might not be useful enough to get people back because of the little interface foibles,” said civil servant Soon Ying Jie, 27, who has dabbled in Web design.
“When I plot a route which uses the Central Expressway, it appears like I have to go through four gantries, when not all of them are for south-bound travel,” said Mr Soon.
If the function tabulating total ERP charges and the option for self-plotted routes were added, he said he would “definitely use it”.
Magazine editor Gayle Quah said she would use the guide before heading out of the house. “I’ve entered ERP zones and exited unknowingly, only to pay another two bucks to get in,” said the 31-year-old, who drives to town twice a week. - TODAY/sh
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