area licensing scheme (als) before erp

photos from national archives of singapore
(first day of implementation: 2 june 1975)

before the electronic road pricing (erp) came into being in 1998, we had the area licensing scheme (als). when it was first introduced in 1975, the als was in operation from 7.30 a.m. to 10.15 a.m. on weekdays. drivers of private cars had to pay $3 for a pass to enter the restricted zone during the operational hours.

however, there was one concession. if a private car carried four heads or more, it could enter the zone without paying. this also led to car-pooling, where certain points were designated for car-pool pick-up. i use the word 'heads' instead of passengers because that was what the cisco police, who were manning the gantry points, were instructed to do: count the number of heads in the car.

as usual, the smart singaporeans tried to abuse this provision. private cars were picking up bus commuters just to avoid paying the fee. some tried to pass off a mannequin as one of the 'heads'. this eventually led to the scrapping of the four passengers or more for free entry into the zone.

the cost of a licence to enter the restricted zone went up to $4 in 1976 and reached $5 in 1980. however, it came back to the original amount of $3 in 1989, when als was extended to the evening, from 4.30 p.m. to 7.00 p.m.

in 1995, road pricing was extended to the east coast parkway.

the east coast parkway was also first to see the introduction of the electronic road pricing. in april 1998, erp started on the ecp.

the erp system uses a dedicated short-range radio communication system to deduct erp charges from a cash card. the card is inserted in the in-vehicle unit (ius) of a vehicle before each journey.

each time, the vehicle passes through a gantry when the system is in operation, the erp charge will be automatically deducted.