The dreadful gantry
OK!...OK! I had enuff of ERPs thingy! It seems everywhere people are complaining abt that infamous arches on our roads. Yes, not only they germinate like mushrooms, the price to pay also exacerbates.
But what can we do about it? I'm not sure if Sporeans are too clueless or just plain stoopid!? Do they think by whining in the papers, blogging on the internet can stop it from spreading all over the island?
Infact, it shall never stop multiplying like cancer cells! And that's the fact! SO can we stop ranting abt the ERPs and get on with our lives?
Before we start rambling and complaining, we need to get the facts right.
Stoopid Sporean: Why are there ERPs in the 1st place?
Moneyface garment: To reduce road congestions.
Stoopid Sporean: Why are there congestions on our roads?
Moneyface garmen: More people are driving their cars.
(So, in another term, ERP is to discourage people from driving their cars. Get it??)
If people stop driving their cars, then there will be less congestions. When there is NO CONGESTION, then there will be NO ERP. Make sense?
You see, I do not know why stoopid sporeans are complaining about their own doings?
Stoopid Sporean: But I have lots of money and I want to buy my own car.
Moneyface garment: YES,you can buy as many cars as you want idiot, but it's expensive to drive. If you must drive, then you have no choice but to pay so that its usable on the road.
Stoopid Sporean: What is the use of having a car but I can't utilise it?
Moneyface garment: Who says you can't drive your vehicle? All you have to do is to have enuff amount of $$ in your cashcard. That's all. (Must I teach you that too?? )
The theory is SO simple and yet why are we arguing about it?
Sporeans need to read between the lines. Are Sporeans too stoopid to understand what message the government is trying to tell you.
"Can buy car, but pay more to drive. If cannot pay, then actually you are still too poor to own a car. (..but I'm still not saying that you can't buy a car.)"
Enuff said.
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What I foresee in future:
Since the numbers of ERPs increasing, the annual Road Tax payment has been reducing.
There will be a time when most ERPs are up, Road Tax will be abolished. The driving system in Spore will be like 'pay-as-you-drive'. The more you drive, the more you pay and the less you drive, the less you pay.
This system will be equivalent like the Off-peak car (OPC) usage, where you pay $20 during peak hours. When normal-plate car owners begin to embrace to the new system, there will be no difference like the usage of OPC. So, finally, there will be no more OPCs on the road.
Stoopid sporean: But why are Off-peak cars still selling? Infact, the numbers of Off-peak cars are surging.
It's a trap, silly! - When ERP system starts full swing, road-tax will be abolished and so will be OPCs. Off-peak car owners will be forced either to convert to normal plate cars or dispose their cars accordingly. For those who still has outstanding finance payment....too bad. You need to refinance your car for the conversion or pay through your nose. (This is another way the government is trying to help banks and other financial institutions make money!)
So, I would advise to think twice before buying an OPC now. You wouldn't know what is going to happen in the next 5-10 years from now. It is ridiculously cheap, but it's going to be a painful trap anytime soon.
ps: Don't ask me how I get to know about all this stuff. I have my own source of intelligence. :-)
