COUPON PARKING (Alternative Systems)

Mr Ng Kah Ting asked the Minister for National Development whether the Housing and Development Board and Urban Redevelopment Authority will consider replacing the coupon parking system with season parking for periods of 6 and 12 months for the car parks under their charge or, alternatively, privatising these car parks.

The Minister of State for National Development (Dr Lee Boon Yang) (for the Minister for National Development): Mr Speaker, Sir, to manage car parks efficiently and to minimize the cost to the users, a distinction must be made between regular parking at specific car parks and short term parking. Season parking tickets will not be attractive to those who do not need to park regularly in a particular car park.

HDB's season parking tickets catering to the parking needs of HDB's residents who would park at designated car parks on a regular basis are sold for periods from one month up to 12 months. Similar season parking tickets at specific car parks valid for three months, six months or one year are available at a number of URA parking stations and some off-street car parks. But unlike HDB's season parking tickets, URA's season parking tickets are not popular.

In the case of stand-alone parking stations, the Ministry is studying the possibility of privatizing them. For a start, it was decided to free private car parking rates from Government control to allow the rates to be determined by market forces.