BUDGET DEBATE - DAY 1

TO CUT down the number of cars on the roads, the Government should implement an "attractive" car buy-back scheme.

This is one of three suggestions Mr Inderjit Singh (Ang Mo Kio GRC) gave to reduce road congestion and, at the same time, help middle-class Singaporeans suffering from rising costs of living.

The other two are: getting Singaporeans to convert to weekend cars, and to view taxis as a viable form of mass transport.

He said: "Because of past policies, there are too many cars on the road while the road network did not grow.

"Reducing certificates of entitlement (COEs) and increasing Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) charges and gantries will not solve this problem. If you want to see fast results, we need to convince people to switch from cars to public transport."

This is what he suggested:

First, offer people cash for their cars.

"Government sponsored buy-back schemes have been applied with some success to reduce undesirable goods circulating in society, such as guns in Australia and fishing boats in Norway and the European Union," Mr Singh said.

Currently, Singapore has a scheme to compensate people for scrapping their cars. However, the payout is in the form of a voucher which consumers can redeem only if they buy another car.

"For such a scheme to be attractive, cash payouts should be offered," he said.

A second way is to offer more attractive incentives for people to convert their cars to weekend cars.

And finally, a mindset shift to consider taxis as a serious option of mass public transport. "They are presently viewed as a luxury item and taxed accordingly," he noted.

Instead, taxis should be made an affordable alternative to private cars, in a way that would not eat into taxi drivers' incomes.

Said Mr Singh: "I would suggest the Government halve the ERP charges on taxis or impose only a concessionary rate."

This story was first published in The Straits Times on Feb 26, 2008.