THE PAP Government is releasing 20,000 more Certificates of Entitlement (COEs) into the market beginning February 2025. This measure is aimed at further stabilising and moderating COE prices.
Singaporeans will benefit. Especially since it is mostly Singaporeans who drive all those new cars, motorbikes, trucks and electric vehicles across Singapore’s roads.
In other words, the vast majority of new Certificates of Entitlement (COEs) — 84 per cent — are going to Singaporeans. Not to private-hire car (PHC) companies or to foreigners.
Minister for Transport Chee Hong Tat shared these latest statistics in Parliament this Tuesday (12 Nov).
“If we now look at the breakdown of successful Cat A and Cat B bids from 2022 to October 2024, and [at] Table 2, Singapore residents account for the large majority of successful bids — increasing from 66 per cent in 2022 to 84 per cent this year,” said Minister Chee, citing data from his Ministry. “The proportion of bids won by foreigners remains low, and has decreased to about 2 per cent.”
Meanwhile, PHCs make up only 10 per cent of successful COE bids.
The price of COEs have gone down across the board for Singaporean drivers.
“The Prevailing Total Premiums (or PQP), which is the average COE price over the past three months and the price which vehicle owners pay to renew their COEs, have fallen across all vehicle categories by about 4 per cent to 21 per cent over the past year,” said Minister Chee.
Minister Chee shared this data in response to a question from MP Melvin Yong (Radin Mas SMC), about whether the additional 20,000 Certificates would indeed help stabilise prices during years when COEs are in short supply.
This is transparency in action, the PAP way. Our MPs take the responsibility to scrutinise new laws to make sure that they will work for real situations, and ask tough questions in Parliament. Our Ministers answer clearly, and are accountable to the public.
Source: Melvin Yong, Yip Hon Weng / Facebook
MP Yong also asked about how the Government would manage traffic congestion and road density; MP Yip Hon Weng (Yio Chu Kang SMC) similarly brought up this line of questioning.
“Can [the Ministry of Transport] clarify how the additional Certificates of Entitlement (COEs) over the next few years will not exacerbate traffic congestion?” asked MP Yip. “What alternative measures are being considered to prevent any unintended increases in road density?”
“An increase in the vehicle population does not automatically lead to an increase in the total vehicular usage,” noted Minister Chee. “There are car owners who may choose to take public transport to work, as well as those who use their cars mostly on weekends or during off-peak hours.”
“This is why it is useful to have both ownership controls and usage-based pricing, so that we can enable some families to own cars while keeping congestion in check, especially during peak periods with ERP [Electronic Road Pricing] 2.0,” he added.
“I want to be clear that this injection of up to 20,000 COEs is not linked to the implementation of distance-based charges. We have not made a decision on whether to implement distance-based charging,” emphasised Minister Chee, citing the need to collate and consider more real-life data as well as balance trade-offs.
This is also while two unchanging facts remain: There simply isn’t much land to build on. Too many vehicles will only result in mass gridlock. This in turn will affect our economy, and more importantly, the physical and mental well-being of our fellow Singaporeans.
It is always a tricky situation, balancing how to best fulfil the aspirations of different groups, but with these recent moves in moderating COE prices, as well as constantly improving our public transport, the PAP Government is acting with the welfare of Singaporeans in mind.
