Amid high COE prices, remember goal of car-lite society

A car-lite future is one that Singapore hopes to achieve as part of its efforts to reduce carbon emissions and combat climate change. However, discussions on the recent hike in COE premiums has shown that this vision may have been forgotten. Many are concerned that the hike is due to the increase in demand for cars by foreigners and private-hire vehicle operators, and will affect affordability and ownership of cars by Singaporeans. This shifts the focus away from the goal of achieving a car-lite future by reducing the ownership of private cars.

Associate Professor Raymond Ong from the NUS Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering under the College of Design and Engineering shares that in order for Singapore to achieve a car-lite nation, public transport facilities have to match up to the travels needs of Singaporeans and changes in lifestyle choices have to be made.

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