THE costliest road to drive on in Singapore ? the Central Expressway (CTE) ? is about to get more expensive.

From Nov 5, motorists will pay 50 cents more each time they pass under an Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) gantry there.

The move, the third wide-scale ERP increase this year, will mean those driving cars onto the CTE from the Pan-Island Expressway (PIE) between 8.30am and 9am will have to pay a record $5.

Goods vehicles and buses will have to pay $10.

This route made news early this year when its car ERP charge went up to $4. A few months later, it was raised to $4.50.

Those who want to avoid paying $5 should set out earlier. The charge for passing its gantries between 7.30am and 8am will be $3.50.

The changes were announced yesterday in the Land Transport Authority?s regular review of ERP rates.

CTE users passing the gantry north of Braddell Road between 7.30am and 8am will pay $2.50 from Nov 5; those passing the gantry south of Braddell Road between 8.30am and 9am will pay $4.

Those joining the CTE from Serangoon and Balestier will also pay $4; elsewhere, the Bendemeer Road rate will rise to $1.50, and the Thomson Road rate, to $2 from Nov 5.

Motorists like chief executive Chong Gim Huat, 45, believe raising ERP rates is not the way to tackle congestion on the CTE, when the problem is that the highway cannot cope with the new population centres that have come up in the north.

He said an alternative expressway was needed, or the CTE needed to be expanded. ?ERP is good if it resolves the problem, but it does not work if the problem is due to lack of infrastructure or capacity,? he added.

Meanwhile, motorists living in the east coast and Bukit Timah who have been bracing themselves for four new gantries have a short respite: instead of being activated on Nov 1 as announced, these gantries start operating on Nov 5 now, in line with the latest rate changes.

The next ERP rate revision will be done next month.