Singaporeans Reconsider Car Ownership Amid High Costs and Congestion

Instead, the 49-year-old business consultant decided in May to go without a car for the first time in two decades.

High COE prices, rising running costs and the hassle of parking and congestion are prompting more Singaporeans to reconsider car ownership, as the land-scarce city state expands public transport, cycling infrastructure and other alternatives in a push for a more “car-lite” society.

Quarterly figures released by the government’s Land Transport Authority in July showed there were 516,237 privately owned cars in Singapore, the lowest number since 2019, even as the share of rental, ride-hailing and corporate cars had increased. Privately owned cars still accounted for 79 per cent of all those on the roads, however.