Written Answer to Unanswered Oral Question

Roll-out of Smart Parking Initiative Parking@HDB

Speakers

Summary

This question concerns the progress and wider rollout of the Parking@HDB smart parking initiative as raised by Miss Cheryl Chan Wei Ling. Minister for National Development Mr Desmond Lee stated that the pilot system uses smart cameras to detect illegal parking and a mobile app for automatic fee payments, removing the need for physical cash cards. The Minister reported that pre-enforcement alerts have decreased illegal parking cases by approximately 60% and have received positive feedback for improving convenience and efficiency. Current efforts focus on refining the system and incorporating feedback from motorists to enhance the overall user experience and system reliability. HDB will continue to review the pilot's performance before deciding on the timeline for extending the system to other car parks across Singapore.

Transcript

113 Miss Cheryl Chan Wei Ling asked the Minister for National Development (a) whether an update can be provided on the Parking@HDB initiative; (b) whether there has been feedback if pre-enforcement alerts have been helpful to motorists; (c) what areas of improvement have been identified for wider implementation of the smart parking system across Singapore; and (d) what is the expected timeline for the wider roll-out of Parking@HDB.

Mr Desmond Lee: The Housing and Development Board (HDB) has developed a barrier-free parking system, Parking@HDB, to improve the parking experience for residents and motorists. This system was first introduced in January 2021 as a pilot at Northshore Residences I and II, the first two smart-enabled housing precincts in Punggol Northshore. HDB subsequently extended the pilot to four other car parks in Punggol and two other car parks near the Old Airport Road Food Centre.

Smart cameras have been deployed at these car parks to help detect illegal parking. Motorists who park in an unauthorised lot will be informed to move their vehicle via an alert on their Parking@HDB app. The app will also allow motorists to pay their parking fees via credit or debit cards automatically upon exiting the car park, without having to insert their cash cards into the In-Vehicle Unit, or worry about having sufficient funds in their cash cards.

Based on the first pilot at Northshore Residences, HDB has found the enforcement alerts to be effective, with the number of illegal parking cases decreasing by about 60%. HDB has not received any adverse feedback from motorists on the alerts to date. HDB has also observed that motorists experienced some time savings when entering and exiting the pilot car parks and that motorists appreciate the convenience of automatic fee deduction via the Parking@HDB app.

HDB is currently refining the system and welcomes feedback from motorists. HDB will review and assess the outcome of the pilot before deciding whether to extend the system to other HDB car parks.