DESIGNATED PARKING LOTS FOR THOSE WITH PRAMS AND WHEELCHAIRS

DESIGNATED PARKING LOTS FOR THOSE WITH PRAMS AND WHEELCHAIRS

38.

Ms Ellen Lee asked the Minister for National Development whether his Ministry will consider setting aside designated parking lots at strategic locations in all HDB/URA car parks for parents with young children and prams as well as caregivers with passengers in wheelchairs.

Mr Mah Bow Tan: Currently, HDB and URA do set aside designated car park lots in their car parks to facilitate the movement of the disabled. The use of such designated lots is restricted to vehicles with authorised parking labels under the Car Park Label Scheme for the Handicapped (CPLS).

Caregivers who need to transport passengers with physical disabilities or mobility constraints are allowed to park at these designated parking lots if they have been issued with the authorised CPLS parking labels.

However, designated car park lots often result in the sub-optimal allocation and under-utilisation of parking lots. In addition, additional resources would be needed to administer and enforce the correct usage of such designated parking lots. We should therefore keep the number of such designated lots low. It is not practical for HDB and URA to designate parking lots for all groups with special needs.

Parents with young children and prams as well as caregivers with passengers in wheelchairs but without special parking labels can make use of designated drop-off points to let their passengers alight first before parking their vehicles in normal parking lots.