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SINGAPORE: A 5-per-cent allocation of "green" certificates of entitlement (COEs) for green vehicles - such as electric cars - could prompt more motorists to go green in the battle against climate change, suggested Member of Parliament (Sembawang GRC) Lim Wee Kiak during the Budget debate on Wednesday.
Noting "a lack of green focus" in this year's Budget - after last year's United Nations climate change summit - Dr Lim said such an allocation of COEs for green vehicles could allow them to make up 5 per cent of the total vehicle population in a decade.
Transportation accounts for 40 per cent of carbon emission, and the largest fleet of vehicles here constitute taxis, public buses and school buses.
Noting that India's New Delhi has stipulated all public buses and taxis run on compressed natural gas, Dr Lim suggested the Government give grants to public transport companies here to go green.
Dr Lim, who chairs the Government Parliamentary Committee for Transport, also felt more could be done to promote "shared transport", such as car-sharing schemes. "There is significant savings for our nation if more car drivers give up their cars and opt for shared transport and public transport," he said.
And to encourage this, Dr Lim urged the Government to lower the costs of shared transport and Electronic Road Pricing rates for taxis. This way, traffic congestion and demand for parking lots could also be reduced, he argued.
- TODAY/sc
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