Sources, Drivers and Barriers of Innovation in Singapore’s Electronic Road Pricing

Abstract

Innovation in land transport management has revolutionised public and private transport in Singapore. The Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) is a good case study for this. Using Albury’s framework of public sector innovation, this paper investigates the sources, drivers, barriers and risks of the ERP system in Singapore. Innovation, as studied by different scholars, is atypical in public sector and as such the lessons that can be learned from the ERP case study has an important added value to existing literature. The findings also reveal that sources of innovation can be classified to social, economic and technological factors which depends heavily on the societal context. Barriers and risks to successful innovative public policy, on the other hand, can also have both intended and unintended consequences. Supported by the literature review and stakeholder interviews, this paper concludes that ERP aside from its effectiveness of this to curb traffic congestion, it can also be considered as an innovation in the public sector that has successfully diffused within and outside Singapore.