DRIVING through the city was a lot smoother on Monday, the first day that new Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) gantries went up in the Central Business District (CBD).
The volume of traffic dropped along roads that are normally heavily used by people cutting through the Singapore River area to get home, or elsewhere, and speeds rose as a result.
Many such motorists, who account for 38 per cent of the traffic through the area, chose to take a longer route home, or switch to public transport, to avoid the up to $2 ERP charge levied between 6pm and 8pm.
By the Land Transport Authority's (LTA) own admission, it is early days yet, but the results were 'encouraging', it said.
In a nutshell: Traffic through what is called the Singapore River Line - separating the Marina Bay area from the Shenton Way area - fell by 30 per cent.
Drivers could get from, say, Bugis to Chinatown at an average speed of 22 kmh to 26 kmh, an increase of between 9 and 35 per cent over the 16kmh to 24kmh before the new gantries came into operation.
The five new gantries which came into operation on Monday are primarily aimed at discouraging motorists from using city roads as a short cut.
One other aim of the new charges is to keep speeds on major roads within what the LTA considers an acceptable range - 20 to 30 kmh - so businesses can function smoothly and there is no negative impact on the overall economy.
More than that, however, the results signal an important new phase in Singapore's policy of managing traffic.
The moves are part of an initiative first announced in January as part of a new transport masterplan, and are aimed at getting people who normally drive to take public transport.
More train and bus services, including premium bus services, have been introduced to encourage them to switch.
The most recent was a new SBS Transit service mirroring the Yio Chu Kang MRT to Tanjong Pagar MRT train route, which started on Monday to ease peak hour traffic.
Such services were previously disallowed, because of concerns that they would duplicate resources.
Drivers can also get cash if they scrap their cars, unlike in the past, when they would just get credits which could be used only to offset taxes on a new car.
For many motorists, the change in their normal commuting habits came reluctantly.
A disgruntled Mr Teo Chee Beng, 52, shipping manager, who normally drives down Fullerton Road, Beach Road and the East Coast Parkway (ECP) to get to his home in Bedok, had to take an alternate route to reach the ECP.
'There is no jam at Fullerton Road in the first place, I'm wondering why they even put up the gantry,' he said.
Responding, the LTA said road pricing had a positive long-term effect on managing congestion on the northbound Central Expressway.
Since a new gantry went up there in November last year, traffic volume there has dropped by about 10 per cent and speeds have gone up by 50 per cent.
The chief executive of the LTA, Mr Yam Ah Mee, said that some Singaporeans have questioned whether it is the right time to raise road charges given the current economic situation.
'The fact is that congestion, if left unchecked, will have a negative impact on our economy and the quality of our environment,' he said.
To some motorists, however, the new moves mean little.
Mr Melvin Low, 28, who said his sales job requires him to drive, paid $2 at the new South Bridge Road gantry on his way to meet clients at Boat Quay.
'I have to run around a lot, and deliver things to my clients as well, so public transport is not an option for me.'
Business owners interviewed yesterday had mixed reactions to the ERP charges - some said as much as 70 per cent of their businesses would be hit, while others said there was no difference at all.
