Debated in Parliament on 15 Oct 2024.
Mr Edward Chia Bing Hui asked the Minister for National Development whether HDB can review the current policy on the transfer of season parking transfers for electric vehicle (EV) owners to allow such owners to temporarily have season parking at two multi-storey carparks (MSCP), one where they reside and another where the EV charging facility is available, until EV chargers are installed at their primary MSCP.
Sir, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) and Housing and Development Board (HDB) are deploying electric vehicle (EV) charging points to nearly 2,000 HDB car parks by 2025. This will increase the accessibility of charging facilities for EV owners.
To support the charging needs of residents with EVs, HDB allows residents to temporarily transfer their existing season parking to another car park with EV chargers at the same season parking rate.
Currently, there are no plans to allow EV owners to hold one season parking ticket that allows season parking at two different car parks. While we support the charging needs of residents with EVs, we also have to be fair to other season parking holders who are not EV owners.
Mr Edward Chia.
Speaker, I would just like to ask the Senior Minister of State, I note the point about fairness. But I think that LTA also provides incentives, such as Additional Registration Fee rebates to encourage early adoption of EVs. Can I just suggest that the Government take a whole-of-Government perspective and allow this temporary provision of two-season parking option as an overall suite to encourage EV adoption?
Sir, to recap my earlier reply, I appreciate where Mr Chia is coming from. For residents who write in to their Members of Parliament about having access to EV charging at a different car park, we will offer to provide season parking at the other car park at the same season parking rate.
Firstly, we have to recognise that the car parks are meant for residents who are living in the area and we have to be fair to those residents who are not EV owners. That is the first point.
The second point is about looking at incentives. This is something that Members will have to also help to explain to our residents. While we support the adoption of EVs and incentives are there to support EV owners, we also want to make sure that it is fair and consistent to those who are not having EVs.
This is something we will continue to review with our colleagues at the Ministry of Transport (MOT), but I want to just reiterate that the intent is to ensure that HDB car parks serve the residents who live in the area and to be fair to them.
Mr Liang Eng Hwa.
Sir, can I ask the Senior Minister of State if there are car parks where the occupancy is not as high, where the take-up rate of the season parking is not as high, would the Ministry of National Development and HDB be prepared to consider to allow some of these dual use, of having two season parkings?
Sir, maybe allow me to set the context in terms of accessibility options for EV owners in terms of charging their EVs.
Firstly, as I explained earlier, we are working very closely with our MOT colleagues to make sure that every HDB town is an EV-ready town by 2025. That means that almost 2,000 HDB car parks – that is about nine in 10 HDB car parks – will have EV charging facilities by end of 2025. That is significant.
Beyond HDB estates, EV charging operators also deploy charging points at various locations, including offices, shopping malls and petrol stations. Fast chargers will be installed at 38 car parks located within a town and neighbourhood centres. This provides EV drivers with more options for publicly accessible charging points.
This is really the context, which I hope Members can appreciate. We are doing as much as we can to provide charging facilities to all EV owners living in HDB estates. We will continue to work closely with our MOT colleagues to see how we can better support our EV owners.
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