Impact of Relaxation on Car Loan Restrictions and Raising of Car Park Charges on Building of Car-lite Society

60 Mr Ang Wei Neng asked the Minister for Transport whether he can provide an update on the policies to promote a car-lite society, including but not limited to assessing the impact of (i) the latest relaxation of car loans; and (ii) raising public car park charges on car ownership.

Mr Khaw Boon Wan: A car-lite society needs to be underpinned by a good public transport system which makes it unnecessary for people to own cars. To this end, we have made significant improvements in our rail and bus services. Our rail network is being built up at an unprecedented pace and will double to 360 km by 2030. Since 2012, we have expanded our train fleet by 50% and our bus fleet by 25%. As a result, train and bus rides are now less crowded, more comfortable and convenient, with shorter waiting and travelling times. We are also working hard to improve the reliability of our rail system. We are making steady progress, but there is still room for improvement.

We have also taken significant steps to improve the first- and last-mile connection between homes and transport hubs. We have built 17 km of sheltered walkways and 57 km of cycling paths. We aim to build about 150 km more sheltered walkways under our Walk2Ride programme by 2018 and about 130 km more cycling paths by 2020. Just this past weekend, the Prime Minister graced the launch of Phase One of Ang Mo Kio Walking and Cycling Town, which we hope can be a model for all towns in the future. Earlier this year, the Government accepted the Active Mobility Advisory Panel's recommendations on cycling and the use of personal mobility devices. Greater certainty on the rules and norms will encourage more people to cycle for short commutes.

Despite our investments in public transport and active mobility, we recognise that, sometimes, it may still be more convenient for commuters to take personalised, point-to-point transport. We have taken some steps to enhance taxi and private hire car services. Recently, LTA signed a partnership with one of Europe’s largest car-sharing operator to implement an electric vehicle car sharing programme in Singapore, which will see 1,000 shared cars on our roads within 10 years.

Private cars will continue to have a role in our car-lite society. However, it is important that the cost of driving, particularly the land-take for roads and parking, be accurately reflected. The increase in car park charges by HDB and URA has this in mind. Our public parking rates have remained unchanged for more than 10 years, while the cost of building, operating and managing car parks has increased by 40%. Even after the increase, our public parking rates remain lower, compared to other global cities, such as London, New York and Tokyo. In due course, we will also review car parking provisions for buildings and developments.

MAS has explained that the car loan restrictions introduced in 2013 were a cyclical response to reduce inflationary pressures and over-borrowing from the strong demand for cars. As inflationary pressures have receded and outstanding motor vehicle loans have declined, MAS has reset the car loan restrictions to levels more appropriate for the longer term. This reset does not affect our move to a car-lite society. We would still want to see a reduction in the growth of the car population and will be reviewing the vehicle growth rate next year.