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<TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR class=msghead><TD><TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0><TBODY><TR class=msghead vAlign=top><TD class=msgF width="1%" noWrap align=right>From: </TD><TD class=msgFname width="68%" noWrap>fixncc <NOBR></NOBR> </TD><TD class=msgDate width="30%" noWrap align=right>4:17 am </TD></TR><TR class=msghead><TD class=msgT height=20 width="1%" noWrap align=right>To: </TD><TD class=msgTname width="68%" noWrap>ALL <NOBR></NOBR></TD><TD class=msgNum noWrap align=right> (1 of 2) </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR><TR><TD class=msgleft rowSpan=4 width="1%"> </TD><TD class=wintiny noWrap align=right>28639.1 </TD></TR><TR><TD height=8></TD></TR><TR><TD class=msgtxt>Satellite charging
Exorbitant running costs, fuelled by GPS tracking, will one day drive the car out of reach of most middle class Singaporeans. By Seah Chiang Nee.
Feb 15, 2010
RECENTLY when I joined the ranks of Singapore’s home down-graders in search of a more modest place, I was guided by one principal consideration.
I wanted a place that is no more than 10 minutes’ walk to a train or bus station.
Public transport is crucial as I prepare for the inevitable day when I will have to surrender my old four-wheeler to the junkyard because of rising operating costs.
I believe that owning a personal car in land-squeezed, overcrowded Singapore will one day become so exorbitant that it will be out of reach of most middle-class Si¬¬ngaporeans.
The way our demography is moving, I see little prospect of the current motorist avoiding the move to public transport - at least partially. It will not augur well for the aged and the handicapped.
The population will continue to rise, but land space will remain the same.
At the moment, the Singaporean’s love affair with the car remains strong, but it will fade as new fiscal measures are tightened.
(A word on trains and buses: they are generally well run, better than most that I have used elsewhere. During rush hour, however, some stations are nightmarishly packed and it becomes a put-off.)
Saying goodbye to the car is never an easy thing for Singaporeans, and some would rather abandon the country for another where cars are cheap.
A plethora of taxes, some uniquely designed in Singapore to reduce the car population, has succeeded marvellously well in two areas – cutting traffic jams and lightening the Singaporean pocket.
In few countries does a car cost as much as it does in Singapore. Any government that tries the same will be out the door in the next election.
As a result, Singapore has only 12 cars per 100 people, half of Hong Kong’s 24.
The taxes are so devilishly complex that it will take a whole chapter to list them and explain how they work.
The purchasing costs include these mind-boggling factors: Reg-istration fee, cost price, road tax, COE (certificate of entitlement), additional registration fee (140% of OMV or open market value) and customs duty (31% of OMV).
Understandably, many Singaporean buyers do not fully understand them; they simply pay – and grumble.
A medium-sized 1,600cc Japanese car costs around S$60,000, enough to buy a bungalow in many neighbouring countries.
Monthly expenses (including depreciation, insurance, electronic road charges, road taxes, etc) are S$2,000 a month, a little less than what a fresh graduate earns.
“We all know that owning a car in Singapore is a luxury,” blogged a writer. “If you don’t have a car, how do you know whether you can afford one?”
His answer, quoting Salary.sg, was you must earn S$7,650 a month. This means that the average middle-class Singaporean (household income: S$7,000) can operate a car only with some financial stress.
The speed with which the government is building more rail lines – the plan is to double the present tracks by 2020 – has convinced me that it means business in working to wean Singaporeans off the car as much as possible.
It wants 70% of peak-hour trips by Singaporeans to be taken on trains and buses by then.
A survey showed how tough it is. Despite the recession last year Singaporeans using public transport during the morning rush hour dropped from 63% to 59%. Car usage has gone up.
With the government gearing up to rebalance it, this trend will not last.
To fight jams and raise revenue, the government has erected some 80 Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) gantries that digitally tax passing vehicles at selected places and times.
The fees are adjusted upwards or downwards depending on traffic volume.
But controversial as they are, the ERP gantries may be soon be torn down to make way for a new (and probably costlier to the public) way of controlling traffic and raising revenue.
Singapore could be the first country to use the GPS or global positioning system to track vehicles on the road for tax purposes.
Operation is expected this year or next, after an expected snap election is held.
The move may be unpopular among voters with an adverse impact against the government. Over the long-term, if not immediately, it will increase transport costs for Singaporeans.
The satellite-tracked electronic system would technically charge drivers using any road any time in Singapore – if so desired.
It highlights how efficiently clever the Singapore authorities are at using the latest high tech to charge the public.
When the GPS system comes into being, I may trade in my car for the train, health permitting.
At present the gantries can’t make any money from me since I avoid passing those machines when they are in operation.
That may change in future. A drive to my estate corner coffee shop for my morning noodle may invite the satellite to start clicking up a bill, I fear.
That may prompt others to join my car-less life. Those who have a higher threshold of pain may also be discouraged by other social costs, including loss of privacy.
Apart from charging people for using the roads, the GPS can also track traffic offenders, including illegal parking, beating the red light and intruding into a bus lane.
The Straits Times warned: “Singaporeans will have to watch not only their back, but high in the sky whenever they think of committing a traffic offence.
“The GPS is also able to determine if you had been speeding along any roads, including going beyond that 15km/h speed limit at the road outside your car park.”
Do you still think the car will remain a luxury in Singapore?
(This was first published in The Star on Feb 13, 2010).
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Exorbitant running costs, fuelled by GPS tracking, will one day drive the car out of reach of most middle class Singaporeans. By Seah Chiang Nee.
Feb 15, 2010
RECENTLY when I joined the ranks of Singapore’s home down-graders in search of a more modest place, I was guided by one principal consideration.
I wanted a place that is no more than 10 minutes’ walk to a train or bus station.
Public transport is crucial as I prepare for the inevitable day when I will have to surrender my old four-wheeler to the junkyard because of rising operating costs.
I believe that owning a personal car in land-squeezed, overcrowded Singapore will one day become so exorbitant that it will be out of reach of most middle-class Si¬¬ngaporeans.
The way our demography is moving, I see little prospect of the current motorist avoiding the move to public transport - at least partially. It will not augur well for the aged and the handicapped.
The population will continue to rise, but land space will remain the same.
At the moment, the Singaporean’s love affair with the car remains strong, but it will fade as new fiscal measures are tightened.
(A word on trains and buses: they are generally well run, better than most that I have used elsewhere. During rush hour, however, some stations are nightmarishly packed and it becomes a put-off.)
Saying goodbye to the car is never an easy thing for Singaporeans, and some would rather abandon the country for another where cars are cheap.
A plethora of taxes, some uniquely designed in Singapore to reduce the car population, has succeeded marvellously well in two areas – cutting traffic jams and lightening the Singaporean pocket.
In few countries does a car cost as much as it does in Singapore. Any government that tries the same will be out the door in the next election.
As a result, Singapore has only 12 cars per 100 people, half of Hong Kong’s 24.
The taxes are so devilishly complex that it will take a whole chapter to list them and explain how they work.
The purchasing costs include these mind-boggling factors: Reg-istration fee, cost price, road tax, COE (certificate of entitlement), additional registration fee (140% of OMV or open market value) and customs duty (31% of OMV).
Understandably, many Singaporean buyers do not fully understand them; they simply pay – and grumble.
A medium-sized 1,600cc Japanese car costs around S$60,000, enough to buy a bungalow in many neighbouring countries.
Monthly expenses (including depreciation, insurance, electronic road charges, road taxes, etc) are S$2,000 a month, a little less than what a fresh graduate earns.
“We all know that owning a car in Singapore is a luxury,” blogged a writer. “If you don’t have a car, how do you know whether you can afford one?”
His answer, quoting Salary.sg, was you must earn S$7,650 a month. This means that the average middle-class Singaporean (household income: S$7,000) can operate a car only with some financial stress.
The speed with which the government is building more rail lines – the plan is to double the present tracks by 2020 – has convinced me that it means business in working to wean Singaporeans off the car as much as possible.
It wants 70% of peak-hour trips by Singaporeans to be taken on trains and buses by then.
A survey showed how tough it is. Despite the recession last year Singaporeans using public transport during the morning rush hour dropped from 63% to 59%. Car usage has gone up.
With the government gearing up to rebalance it, this trend will not last.
To fight jams and raise revenue, the government has erected some 80 Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) gantries that digitally tax passing vehicles at selected places and times.
The fees are adjusted upwards or downwards depending on traffic volume.
But controversial as they are, the ERP gantries may be soon be torn down to make way for a new (and probably costlier to the public) way of controlling traffic and raising revenue.
Singapore could be the first country to use the GPS or global positioning system to track vehicles on the road for tax purposes.
Operation is expected this year or next, after an expected snap election is held.
The move may be unpopular among voters with an adverse impact against the government. Over the long-term, if not immediately, it will increase transport costs for Singaporeans.
The satellite-tracked electronic system would technically charge drivers using any road any time in Singapore – if so desired.
It highlights how efficiently clever the Singapore authorities are at using the latest high tech to charge the public.
When the GPS system comes into being, I may trade in my car for the train, health permitting.
At present the gantries can’t make any money from me since I avoid passing those machines when they are in operation.
That may change in future. A drive to my estate corner coffee shop for my morning noodle may invite the satellite to start clicking up a bill, I fear.
That may prompt others to join my car-less life. Those who have a higher threshold of pain may also be discouraged by other social costs, including loss of privacy.
Apart from charging people for using the roads, the GPS can also track traffic offenders, including illegal parking, beating the red light and intruding into a bus lane.
The Straits Times warned: “Singaporeans will have to watch not only their back, but high in the sky whenever they think of committing a traffic offence.
“The GPS is also able to determine if you had been speeding along any roads, including going beyond that 15km/h speed limit at the road outside your car park.”
Do you still think the car will remain a luxury in Singapore?
(This was first published in The Star on Feb 13, 2010).
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