WATCH + DISCOVER : Singapore curbs traffic with Automatic Tolls

"Singapore was the first country in the world to implement Electronic Road Pricing (ERP), an electronic toll collection system which aims to reduce traffic and indeed, less than 30 percent of Singaporeans now own cars."
WATCH + DISCOVER the :06 min. video here http://www.pbs.org/video/video/1114493504/program/1113214386

I experienced first-hand, the effectiveness of the ERP when I last visited my family in Singapore. Other than the ERP's smart road systems, there are also smart LED boards strategically placed throughout the city, providing information on travel time on many roads. This provides commuters with vital information like trip duration and delays if any. Thus resulting in convenient travel amenities like electronic boards at bus-stops which inform commuters of the ETA of each bus, at most bus-stops in the busy areas of the city. What this PBS report fails to highlight is the fact that the ERP is only one aspect of the ambitious plan for Singapore to ease urban congestion in the main business districts and to efficiently redirect human activity to other less congested areas. For example, one very important action the city took was to relocate the government agencies to vital subway (Mass Rapid Transit) junctions/stops. This created new areas of human activity and helped ease the burgeoning human traffic going into the city area. Furthermore, commuters are never exposed to the elements as transfer from subway stops to buildings of activity are always housed either underground or in airconditioned environments, away from the country's humid and tropical weather.

The ERP debit card used in each vehicle also allows drivers to enter parking facilities without having to worry about payment as there are gantries that will automatically deduct the fees from this card. Now if only this system could be modified and implemented for the overcrowded city of Los Angeles.