Singapore is a small island city-state-country. With an area of 700 square km (275 square miles) of which roads make up nearly 10%, coupled with a high population density, it is very easy for Singapore to have become clogged with traffic jams on roads like many other metropolitan cities. The government on one had developed one of the best in the world mass transit systems with buses and light rail, and on the other hand has done very interesting things to limit private car ownership. The latter is what I discuss here.
Owning a cars is expensive: To buy a car in Singapore you pay significant duties on the price of the car (~150%) and also need to buy a Certificate of Entitlement (COE) that entitles you to own your car for a period of 10 years. At last bidding, the COE was priced at around S$70,000 (having hit S$95,000 earlier in the year). This makes the price of a small car in the range of S$125,000, which puts it out of reach for many.
Smart congestion pricing: Additionally, Singapore has an elaborate traffic congestion pricing scheme called Electronic Road Pricing (ERP). ERP is collected at peak times and at key locations entering and exiting congested areas and is automatically charged to your card/account as you enter and exit these areas. The ERP system also extends to paying for parking so there are no toll booth personnel and hunting for cash / change, making throughput much faster. Some people refer to ERP as 'Everyday Rob People' since it is expensive, but the proof that the system works is that you rarely hit major traffic jams in the city.
Taxis: With nearly 30,000 taxis, taxis form a reliable source of transport. Not very expensive, and comparable to, or cheaper than, owning a car, taxis are clean, drivers are generally very courteous, and the system for hailing them or booking them in advance is very well laid out. Of course, in peak hours getting a taxi can be very difficult and you do frequently run into taxi drivers who 'select' their fares (generally people going where they are headed towards!). You also encounter taxi drivers changing shifts at peak hours, which can be frustrating since you need the driver to be living near where you wish to go to be able to hail a ride
Owning a cars is expensive: To buy a car in Singapore you pay significant duties on the price of the car (~150%) and also need to buy a Certificate of Entitlement (COE) that entitles you to own your car for a period of 10 years. At last bidding, the COE was priced at around S$70,000 (having hit S$95,000 earlier in the year). This makes the price of a small car in the range of S$125,000, which puts it out of reach for many.
Smart congestion pricing: Additionally, Singapore has an elaborate traffic congestion pricing scheme called Electronic Road Pricing (ERP). ERP is collected at peak times and at key locations entering and exiting congested areas and is automatically charged to your card/account as you enter and exit these areas. The ERP system also extends to paying for parking so there are no toll booth personnel and hunting for cash / change, making throughput much faster. Some people refer to ERP as 'Everyday Rob People' since it is expensive, but the proof that the system works is that you rarely hit major traffic jams in the city.
Taxis: With nearly 30,000 taxis, taxis form a reliable source of transport. Not very expensive, and comparable to, or cheaper than, owning a car, taxis are clean, drivers are generally very courteous, and the system for hailing them or booking them in advance is very well laid out. Of course, in peak hours getting a taxi can be very difficult and you do frequently run into taxi drivers who 'select' their fares (generally people going where they are headed towards!). You also encounter taxi drivers changing shifts at peak hours, which can be frustrating since you need the driver to be living near where you wish to go to be able to hail a ride
No comments:
Post a Comment