Below is an email I wrote to My Paper in hope of being published as a feedback letter to LTA.
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Re: Time to tweak the COE system and improve public transport
A lot of discussion and grievances has been aired recently about the new ERP gantries and most of the points raised by various have been valid in my opinion. Hence I will not go into anymore details about LTA's decision to set up more ERP gantries. Instead, I will like to focus on the overall congestion problem on our roads we are facing now.
Singapore has a lot of roads. However, I sometimes question whether it is necessary for us to build so many roads, roads that occupy precious land space that can be put to better use otherwise. COE is established with the foresight to limit the number of vehicles on the road and it is a good system.
However, it seems that LTA has not been actively restricting the number of certificates released, resulting in a steady growth in the car population to a state where our roads can no longer sustain. I understand that LTA has explained before a formula they use to calculate the number of COE to release to the market but apparently, it is not working.
Therefore I wish to propose a few changes to the COE system:
1. Instead of basing the formula of releasing the number of COE on the amount of road space we have, we should calculate the appropriate number of COE base on the number of households we have. Perhaps the number could be proportional to a set of households with substantial income.
2. Allow households that do not own a car to have priority in bidding for COE. Only COE not utilised then will be opened to two-time buyers.
Of course, the COE system cannot solve the congestion issue by itself. One reason why people still want to purchase cars is that our public transport system are been taxed to the limit with our increasing population. Our MRT barely move fast enough to cater to the peak-hour crowd. If the government is looking at increasing Singapore's population to six million by the next decade, it needs to design and maintain a more efficient public transport system.
Thank you.
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