Motorists to trial roadside electronic parking payment via ERP 2 OBU from August

SINGAPORE: Singapore motorists may soon have one less app to tap before heading off. Starting in August, about 1,000 drivers will test a new roadside electronic parking (REP) feature under Singapore’s ERP 2 system.

The trial will cover 644 designated car park locations and around 19,000 roadside parking lots nationwide, according to the Land Transport Authority (LTA), cited by Channel NewsAsia (CNA).

The feature allows motorists to start and pay for roadside parking directly through their ERP 2 on-board unit (OBU) touchscreen display, removing the need to open the Parking.sg app for participating locations.

How to activate a parking session

Drivers taking part in the trial will see a parking icon “P” appear on their OBU display once the feature is activated. After parking, motorists can tap the icon to begin a parking session.

Drivers can also start a parking session through a prompt that appears after the vehicle engine is switched off.

Where only one designated car park is detected, the system will display a single option. If several nearby car parks are detected, drivers must select the correct location before confirming the parking session.

LTA said confirmation is still required to ensure motorists intend to park and to help apply charges accurately. Once activated, the system will display a parking status notification, “parking in progress,” before automatically shutting down.

No longer need to guess the parking duration or manually end the parking session

One of the biggest changes is how parking sessions end. Instead of manually stopping or extending parking time, the REP system automatically ends the session when the vehicle leaves the car park.

Parking charges are then automatically calculated and deducted from the motorist’s selected payment method, reducing a common frustration among drivers: estimating how long they will park and remembering to extend sessions when plans change.

ERP 2 adds parking to the trial programme

The parking feature is part of the ERP 2 programme that introduces location-based charging technology. The same group of trial participants is already testing location-based charging features that began earlier this month.

LTA has confirmed that location-based and checkpoint charging under ERP 2 will launch on January 1, 2027. A launch date for the roadside parking feature hasn’t been announced yet.

As of May 31, around 960,000 vehicles, representing more than 96 per cent of Singapore’s vehicle population, had installed ERP 2 on-board units. Among those vehicles, about 98 per cent opted for the touchscreen display required for the REP function.

The Parking.sg app will be available even after the new parking feature is fully introduced. Drivers without the touchscreen display can continue using the app as usual.

Motorists will soon have a simpler parking experience

The trial demonstrates an upgrade towards automated road payments and digital transport services in Singapore.

Motorists will have fewer steps, fewer reminders and less risk of paying too much or receiving parking fines because a session wasn’t extended in time.

If the trial, which is very likely to succeed, roadside parking could become one of the most visible everyday uses of ERP 2 beyond road pricing.

More details about the trial will be announced later, an LTA spokesperson said.