Singapore limits increase of private vehicles

 

Hanoi (VNA) – Singapore will hamper the growth of private vehicles from February 2018 due to land scarcity and billions of dollar worth of planned public transport investment.

The Land Transport Authority (LTA) said it will cut the private vehicle growth rate in the country to 0 percent next year to the current 0.25 percent per annum. The rate will be reviewed in 2020.

Meanwhile, the LTA will keep growth rate for goods vehicles and busses at 0.25 percent until end of the first quarter of 2021.

The country tightly controls its vehicles by setting an annual growth rate and through the Certificate of Entitlement (CoE), which offers the right to vehicle ownership and use for a limited number of years.

Singapore, whose total population has risen nearly 40 percent since 2000 to about 5.6 million now, counted more than 600,000 private and rental cars on its roads last year.

Currently, 12 percent of Singapore's total land area is taken up by roads. It is one of the most densely populated nations on the planet and already has an extensive public transport system. A mid-range car in Singapore can typically cost four times the price in the US.

Singapore has expanded its rail network by 30 percent and has added new bus routes. The government will continue to invest 20 billion SGD (14.7 billion USD) in new rail infrastructure, 4 billion SGD in upgrading and expanding existing rail systems, and another 4 billion SGD in bus subsidies in the next five years.-VNA