More Parking Options for Heavy Vehicle Owners

Mr Liang Eng Hwa asked the Minister for National Development whether the Government has plans to build more heavy vehicle parks and to improve its public transport connectivity so that these vehicle parks can be more accessible to the drivers.

Mr Liang Eng Hwa asked the Minister for National Development whether HDB can consider raising the allowable unladen weight for vans and light goods vehicles at HDB multi-storey car parks beyond the current 1,800 kg to 2,100 kg so that such vehicle owners/drivers can find more convenient parking and ease the season parking demand pressure on those popular heavy vehicle parks.

Currently, there are about 43,190 heavy vehicle parking spaces islandwide, which exceeds the 33,680 heavy vehicles registered with the Land Transport Authority (LTA). About 74% of the heavy vehicle parking spaces are privately operated and located in industrial estates.

The remaining 26% of heavy vehicle parking spaces are managed by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) and the Housing and Development Board (HDB) in the form of temporary heavy vehicle parks located within or at the fringes of residential areas. Over time, these temporary heavy vehicle parks will be progressively phased out, partly to make way for new developments, and partly because having heavy vehicles enter densely populated heartland precincts poses a safety risk, especially to the elderly and young children. To facilitate this transition, agencies are incorporating new heavy vehicle parks within industrial developments that are near to residential areas, where feasible.

Ultimately, it is the responsibility of business owners to provide or secure parking for the vehicles that they own and to provide their drivers with the appropriate transport options to get to their vehicles for work. This is especially so if they require their drivers to work during odd hours.

Commercial vehicles, such as vans and light goods vehicles, with unladen weight exceeding 1,800 kilogrammes, are generally not allowed to park in HDB residential car parks for safety and environmental reasons.

However, HDB does exercise flexibility by allowing them to use the residential car parks if the vehicles can fit within a standard car lot and do not obstruct or endanger other car park users. Such vehicles should, however, not exceed an unladen weight of 2,000 kilogrammes if they intend to park within HDB multistorey car parks (MSCP) as the MSCPs are not designed to withstand vehicular weights beyond this limit. Those that exceed an unladen weight of 2,000 kilogrammes can park in HDB surface residential car parks. They can also park at commercial and industrial car parks, as well as heavy vehicle parks.