Charges under the Night Parking Scheme (NPS) offered at HDB and URA carparks will be doubled with effect from 1 Nov 2010.
The overnight night parking charge of $2 will be revised to $4, while the current night parking half-hourly charge remains at 50 cents.
In a news release, the HDB and URA said most NPS carparks which provide overnight parking for non-resident motorists are currently heavily utilized.
Due to the higher parking demands, residents with Season Parking Ticket(SPT) are facing difficulties in finding parking space when they return home at night to these carparks which initially offered adequate parking space to meet season parking needs.
The HDB estimates that about 10 per cent of its carparks do not have enough spaces for residents nearby. Singapore’s growing car population has been cited as the main reason for this carpark crunch, with many households owning more than one vehicle.
Lee Bee Wah, MP for Ang Mo Kio GRC said: “Initially, the problem was mainly around coffeeshops, markets, Chinese temples or the Yishun Stadium. Recently, I have received feedback from residents from other areas as well. So this looks like a common problem in HDB estates.”
Ms Lee said she receives one complaint a week from residents facing parking difficulties.
With the parking charge revision, it’s hoped that the interests of Season Parking Ticket holders will be better served, while managing the parking demands.
But some worry that the problem may simply be pushed to other parts of the estate.
Ms Lee said: “It may deter some non-residents from parking. But the number of cars is there. They don’t park at the HDB carpark lots, they may be parking it somewhere else, because you have to park the car somewhere. So it may impact some other areas, like more illegal parking lots.”
Another MP, Halimah Yacob of Jurong GRC, feels that while it would help to ease the parking woes of residents, the amount is not very significant.
Madam Halimah added that the problem requires “a strategy of how to ensure that there is enough parking places in Singapore. And that kind of planning is not only confined to just HDB, it has to be planning on the part of the Ministry of Transport as well.”
Residents were divided on the impact of the revision.
“I think it makes no difference. If they want to park overnight, whether it’s $2 or $4, they will still park,” said one Singapore resident.
“It makes no difference for season parking ticket holders. But if I have to park somewhere else, the jump from $2 to $4 is quite expensive,” said another.
The new $4 night parking coupons will be available for sale from 15 October.
The HDB and URA said motorists holding the $2 night parking coupons can continue to use them by displaying two $2 coupons.
Source : Channel NewsAsia – 2 Aug 2010