Second Link traffic likely to increase due to higher Causeway tolls

Traffic volume on the Second Link is likely to rise when significantly higher tolls on the Causeway kick in next Wednesday, reported The Straits Times.

But observers said this is not just because the Second Link will then have cheaper toll charges (about 30 percent lower). Rather, those who have been using the Causeway previously because it was much cheaper than the Second Link will no longer have an incentive to do so.

Together with tolls levied by Malaysia, a two-way trip by car via the Causeway will cost around $13.10. With the revision, the Causeway becomes costlier than the Second Link, where charges for a similar round trip remains unchanged at $9.40 for now.

The Land Transport Authority (LTA) does not have the number of Singapore vehicles using the two crossings, but said the Causeway accounts for 70 percent of the 54,000 foreign vehicles entering Singapore daily. Of that, 70 percent are motorcycles.

It would not say how the toll changes might affect traffic patterns.