OVERNIGHT PARKING IN HDB ESTATES

OVERNIGHT PARKING IN HDB ESTATES

19.

Er Lee Bee Wah asked the Minister for National Development (a) whether the raising of overnight parking charges can adequately safeguard the interests of season parking tickets holders as well as better manage the parking demand at the carparks in HDB estates; (b) what data or studies have been done on overnight parking in HDB estates to support this decision; and (c) what is the Ministry's plan for other long-term solutions to resolve the parking problems in HDB estates.

Mr Mah Bow Tan: HDB manages about 550,000 car park lots in over 1,800 car parks. With growing affluence, car ownership has increased in recent years. This has resulted in localised shortages at about 10% of HDB car parks.

HDB adopts a two-pronged strategy of increasing supply while managing demand to meet residents' needs for car park spaces.

To improve availability of car park lots for residents, HDB reserves more red or red/white lots for season ticket holders. HDB also groups car parks together for season parking to even out the demand for car parking and give residents more parking options.

In addition, HDB will spend $66 million to provide 5,000 additional car lots where there are localised shortages. Where land is available, HDB will increase the capacity of existing car parks by extending surface car parks, converting vacant land to car parks, or building new multi-storey car parks. Additional decks will be added to existing multi-storey car parks where technically feasible. Work has already begun and 1,100 of these lots will be ready by end-2010 to address the shortages at 26 car parks.

However, land is limited. HDB also has to balance the need for parking space with other needs for green spaces or other amenities. Thus, it is essential to complement supply measures with demand management.

HDB will safeguard parking lots for residents' needs by regulating short-term demand for parking lots. The increase in the Night Parking Scheme (NPS) charges from $2 to $4 with effect from 1st November 2010 is one such measure. The NPS charges were last revised in 1989. Then, the season parking rates for surface and covered lots were $50 and $75 respectively. The corresponding season parking rates today are $65 and $90. Using NPS for 30 nights costs less than the season parking rates. Therefore, the NPS rates need to be revised to manage night parking demand. More motorists may choose to pay the half-hourly rate of $0.50 instead of the revised NPS charge and shorten their stay. Motorists who need to park overnight regularly are encouraged to purchase a season parking ticket.

At car parks with high demand for season parking, HDB would also remove the Night Parking Scheme and Free Parking Scheme on Sundays/Public Holidays to reduce competition for lots from visitors.

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Another strategy to increase short-term parking turnover is the Electronic Parking System (EPS). However, EPS is only viable at some car parks, due to the car park layout and high implementation costs. HDB plans to implement EPS at another 300 car parks over the next five years.

Parking shortages can also be attributed to the increased demand from households with more than one car. There are about 36,000 HDB households owning more than one car, which is an increase of 60% compared to 2006.

To manage demand, HDB accords priority for season parking tickets to the first-owned vehicle of each household on a first-come-first-served basis. If there are season parking tickets left, they will be sold to the households with second and subsequent-owned vehicles (second priority). The balance will be sold to residents who buy season parking tickets for vehicles not owned by them and non-residents (third priority).

We seek the understanding of motorists that in land-scarce Singapore, we need to manage the demand for car parks even as we increase the supply where feasible.

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