Number of parking lots decided by market forces

April 8, 2008
Number of parking lots decided by market forces

WE REFER to last Tuesday's report, 'Finding a parking lot in CBD will
soon be harder', which suggests there will be a shortage of carpark
lots in new office and commercial buildings because the Government is
restricting the number of parking lots. This is inaccurate.

The Government does not limit the number of parking lots in a
building. The approach it takes is to determine the minimum parking
provision based on the given gross floor area of the development.
Developers can provide more parking lots than this stipulated
minimum.

Hence, both the actual number of parking lots provided and parking
charges imposed are market driven, as they are left to individual
developers and carpark operators to determine. Developers have to
decide how they will balance the different uses of their building
space to maximise returns and meet parking needs of tenants and
customers, taking into consideration the transport infrastructure in
the vicinity. This approach helps ensure adequate parking provision
for the development, while allowing the market to optimise the use of
the space in the building.

The Land Transport Authority reviews the minimum standard for carpark
provision regularly to reflect demand for carpark space, based on
actual occupancy of carparks and taking into consideration
improvements in the public transport system which provides an
alternative travel mode to the car.

The developments around the city centre, including Marina Bay, are
planned with extensive Rapid Transit System network coverage. The
carpark provision standard is therefore generally lower than in other
areas with a less extensive rail network.

In the larger context of land-scarce Singapore, we should not
subsidise the costs of car usage by over-specifying carpark provision
that is not subject to market forces. In fact, in other major cities,
first class office buildings often have low carpark provision and
most office staff take public transport to work.

Lina Lim (Ms)
Director, Transport Planning
Land Transport Authority

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Contact Stuart Chng: (65) 9691 9907
Email: stuart.chng@eastliving.com.sg

EastLiving - Singapore Property and Real Estate DB