Singapore to cap total number of vehicles on the streets

Singapore has announced that no further cars will be added on its streets. The growth rate for motorcycles and cars will be reduced to 0% from the current 0.25%.

The city state has said that this restriction will be applicable from February 2018. Meanwhile, the growth rate for the buses and goods vehicles will still be at 0.25% till March 2021. This additional time has been given to the business owners to revamp and increase the efficiency of their existing fleet. Further, the limit on the growth rate will be reviewed again 2020.

The land space in Singapore is very scarce and leads to very high property rates. Currently, roads occupy 12% of the available land. Alarmed by this, the authorities considered this limit. They will also be spending US$ 21 billion over the next five years to improve the public transport network - mostly towards the bus and rail transportation.

Currently, vehicle owners must hold a "Certificate of Entitlement" which is auctioned by the government every month. This certificate costs about US$ 30,000 and is valid for a 10-year period. As of 2016, there were over 6 lakh cars in the city.

Source - Bloomberg