Commentary: COE debate should not be about putting cars within everyone’s reach

Second, make shared mobility a dependable complement to mass public transport.

Ride-hailing and car-sharing must be dependable, affordable and seamless not only under ideal conditions, but also during peak demand, bad weather and stressful moments. This requires closer attention to how such services are regulated and coordinated as part of the wider transport system.

Car access need not mean permanent ownership. A household might use public transport most of the week, turn to ride-hailing during caregiving crunch points and rent a shared car occasionally. Normalising this flexible relationship with cars may be as important as adjusting the COE rules.

THE NEXT PHASE OF THE TRANSPORT DEBATE

Third, ensure that lived experience shapes Singapore’s Land Transport Master Plan refresh.

Singapore’s transport system has worked because people broadly accepted its trade-offs. That acceptance depends not only on the efficiency of transportation modes, but also on whether policies feel fair, responsive and grounded in lived realities.

Public engagement is therefore more than a technical exercise. The latest phase – involving more than 400 participants in thematic discussions, alongside shadowing across 21 commuter profiles – shows the value of grounding policy in lived experience.

The next test is how these insights inform the COE consultation paper due later this year and the wider Land Transport Master Plan refresh in 2027.

Singapore’s transport debate has long centred on cars. The next phase should centre more clearly on people.

The question cannot stop at who gets to own a car. It must also ask how public transport, point-to-point services and shared cars can provide reliable mobility across different stages of life, without turning every need for flexibility into a need for car ownership.

Samuel Chng is a Research Assistant Professor at the Lee Kuan Yew Centre for Innovative Cities, Singapore University of Technology and Design, where he heads the Urban Psychology Lab.