Image credit – Singapore Land Transport Authority
In most countries, if you want to buy a car, all you have to do is walk into a dealership and purchase one (whether or not you are legally allowed to drive is a different story). However over in Singapore where land is sparse, owning a car is tricky, but unfortunately it looks like it’s about to get much harder.
In a report from Bloomberg, Singapore’s Land Transport Authority has announced that they will stop adding cars to its roads starting in February 2018. The government plans on cutting down the annual growth rate of cars from 0.25% down to 0%, stating that, “In view of land constraints and competing needs, there is limited scope for further expansion of the road network.”
For those unfamiliar, over in Singapore potential car owners will be required to purchase a Certificate of Entitlement that will allow them to own their vehicles for 10 years, and these permits are limited in supply and are auctioned monthly. This means that on top of paying for your car, you would have to pay for the permit as well, which according to Bloomberg can cost $41,617 for the smallest vehicles.
According to the LTA, this only affects cars and motorcycles, and that the existing growth rate for goods vehicles and buses will continue until March 2021 to give businesses and public transport time to improve their efficiency.
Filed in . Read more about Legal.