LTA to stop Park & Ride scheme from December

SINGAPORE — After more than four decades, the Park & Ride scheme, which encourages drivers to make public transport a part of their daily commute, will be phased out from Dec 1.

The Land Transport Authority (LTA) said that over the past few years, monthly take-up rates for the scheme have been consistently low, averaging fewer than 2,000 regular users, out of more than two million public transport commuters daily.

Of these users, only about half of them take public transport after parking their cars, and in some car parks, this figure is lower than one in five. The LTA said that this suggests some motorists are possibly using the scheme to get cheaper parking, which defeats its purpose.

The scheme was meant to help motorists save costs and time in getting to the Central Business District (CBD), as they park at selected car parks — near an MRT station or bus interchange — before they continue their journeys by bus or MRT. Motorists buy a monthly Park & Ride set comprising an EZ-Link card and a season-parking ticket.

The scheme was introduced in 1975 to encourage motorists to switch to bus services before entering the CBD, and was expanded to include MRT train services in 1993. However, with the expanded public transport network such as added rail lines and enhanced bus services to the city, commuters now have many more choices to travel to the CBD directly, making the scheme less relevant than before, the LTA said.

November’s Park & Ride sets will be sold until Nov 7 at TransitLink ticket offices, while online sale of the sets will stop on Nov 4. Motorists who do not plan to continue using the scheme from here on until November can get a refund of the remaining EZ-Link card deposit at the same ticket offices. They may continue to use the car parks at normal parking rates.