Driving in Singapore

Driving in Singapore is a pleasure which, alas, only a minority can afford. Singapore has some of the best maintained roads in the world. The world! Outside of rush hour, the roads are usually free from traffic jams - one thing which sets this city apart from its Southeast Asian neighbours.

Singapore streets are clean, neat, smooth, well-maintained, and usually free from congestion (12 September 2010)


You will also find that the roads are spotlessly clean, neat, smooth, well-maintained, and free from congestion. Moreover the drivers in Singapore (compared to elsewhere in Southeast Asia) are well behaved. Of course, there will always be the occasional kiasu driver who cuts queue or drive a little recklessly, but on the whole, it is a smooth drive anywhere in Singapore. As mentioned, driving in Singapore is a pleasure for the minority. That's because Singapore is one of the most expensive places on earth to own a car. The same make of car in the United States costs 300% more in Singapore (or should I say, a car in Singapore costs 75% less in US). For that reason, only 10% of the population owns car. As Singapore has such an excellent public transportation network, owning a car is truly a luxury rather than a necessity.

Here are a few more reasons why many people prefer not to own a car.

Electronic Road Pricing Gantry
Author: Kalleboo (Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic)

Electronic Road Pricing

To control the number of cars entering the Central Business District, the government introduced Electronic Road Pricing, or ERP. This is a fee charged when a car passes through the ERP gantry to enter the Central Business District. The fee deducted varies between S$0.50 to S$3.50 depending on the time of day and location. Each car has to install an In-Vehicle Unit (IU) into which a CashCard is inserted. The CashCard is a stored-value smart card. When the amount is almost depleted, you can top it up at banks, post offices, petrol stations, selected ATMs

Parking

In most places in Singapore, expect to pay for parking. The standard rate is S$0.50 per half an hour in the standard white parking lots and S$1.00 per half hour in the yellow parking lots which are found in the Central Business District. You need to buy the parking coupons, available at petrol stations and supermarkets, and display them on the dashboard.

Parking in shopping malls is even pricier. It can be S$2.00 per half hour, and the mode of payment can vary depending on the mall. Some use parking attendant, some ticket, some the IU or CashCard.

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Please use the information on this page as guidance only. The author endeavours to update the information on this page from time to time, but regrets any inaccuracies if there be any.