A COE benefits more Singaporeans if given to a private-hire car: Jeffrey Siow
[SINGAPORE] A Certificate of Entitlement (COE) benefits more Singaporeans if given to a private-hire car (PHC) company than a private car owner, said Acting Transport Minister Jeffrey Siow.
In an interview with local media on Jun 11, he countered the idea that PHCs are 'bidding up the prices of the COEs and therefore depriving Singaporeans of owning a car'.
As PHCs provide access to private transport on a pay-per-use basis, they drive down demand for COEs, he argued. Without PHCs to meet the needs for private transport, more people would want their own car.
'If you have one COE left to allocate, is it better… to give it to a private car owner who then drives maybe two trips a day and leaves the car in the garage, or is it better to share the car among a much larger group of Singaporeans who can have access to the use of a car when they need it? Surely it must be the latter, right?'
In the long term, Singapore could review the COE system as a way of allocating vehicles, he added.
'But my guess is that in the short term, there won't be major tweaks.'
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Asked how Singapore will continue to manage traffic congestion, Siow said the current focus is completing the roll-out of the Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) 2.0 system, while autonomous vehicles (AVs) could help in the longer term.
'I think the focus now is just sort of replacing (ERP 1.0), making sure that we get the replacement on track and (making) sure that every car is installed. As I said, that will take some time,' he said.
'After that, we can take a look at what to do in the next phase,' he added, without elaborating.
The first-generation gantry-based ERP system is being replaced with satellite-based ERP 2.0 that allows for distance-based charging. Around 500,000 vehicles have been fitted with the new system as at June 2025, and the roll-out is expected to be completed by 2026.
Last year, then-transport minister Chee Hong Tat said the authorities were open to a one-off increase in the total vehicle population, spread over a few years, with higher usage-based charges to prevent congestion – but such a move would need to be carefully studied.
In thinking about the next phase of private transport policy, the starting point is the need to limit the total vehicle population, said Siow.
Then the consideration is what to do 'at the edges, at the margins… to adjust that top-line number', he said.
AVs could be a 'game changer' for private transport if they eventually present a good alternative to owning a car, similar to PHCs now, he noted.
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