Proposal to Use Old Parking Coupons at Pro-rated Rates
Ministry of National DevelopmentSpeakers
Summary
This question concerns a proposal by Mr Leon Perera to allow motorists to use old parking coupons at pro-rated rates to minimize administrative hassle. Senior Minister of State Desmond Lee replied that this was unnecessary as exchange points are widely available and enforcement officers are currently issuing advisories instead of fines. He noted that exchange volumes have stabilized and stated that HDB and URA intend to eventually phase out coupon parking entirely. Senior Minister of State Desmond Lee highlighted that 73% of public off-street car parks already utilize the Electronic Parking System. New technologies are being explored for remaining sites to remove the need for physical coupons and improve motorist convenience.
Transcript
5 Mr Leon Perera asked the Minister for National Development whether motorists can be allowed to use the old parking coupons at pro-rated rates.
The Senior Minister of State for National Development (Mr Desmond Lee) (for the Minister for National Development): Mdm Speaker, we have studied the option and concluded that there is no need to do so. Instead, we have ensured that there is adequate supply of parking coupons for exchange at the majority of petrol stations, as well as at HDB branches and at the URA. At the same time, enforcement officers on the ground are issuing advisory notices and not parking offence notices, to motorists who may have overlooked the change and still use the old coupons during this transition period.
HDB and URA have been actively monitoring the sale and exchange of coupons. After an initial peak period in the first week of December when the new rates took effect, the volume of sale and exchange of coupons has decreased significantly and has now stabilised.
Mr Leon Perera (Non-Constituency Member): Mdm Speaker, I thank the Senior Minister of State for his reply. I would like to ask: what are the reasons the review concluded that allowing motorists to use old coupons at pro-rated rates was not a more efficient solution?
I would also like to ask a second supplementary question: in future, whether there can be the option of allowing the old supply of coupons to be used up in the market and simply replaced? This means, old coupons will not be issued anymore and new coupons being issued, rather than requiring motorists to actually go into petrol stations and convenience stores and so on, to do an exchange, because that creates hassle for the motorists and also creates an administrative burden.
Mr Desmond Lee: I thank the Member for his feedback. Many people have already changed and exchanged their coupons. During this transition period, we have issued advisories, rather than offence notices. So, it is better to operationally cart over to the new parking coupons.
The Member's other point is for the future. In fact, HDB and URA plan to eventually phase out coupon parking altogether. Both agencies have been progressively converting car parks from coupon-based parking to Electronic Parking Systems (EPS). As of December 2016, out of 2,104 public off-street car parks managed by both HDB and URA, 1,537 or 73% are already operating under the EPS.
However, on-street car parks, such as kerb-side parking with site constraints, and car parks affected by impending redevelopment, are not suitable for EPS operations. For these car parks, HDB and URA are exploring the use of new parking technology to bring greater convenience to motorists.
So, his suggestion about, if in future, there needs to be any change, that old coupons should be allowed to be used, we hope technology will replace all of that.