SINGAPORE'S EXPERIENCE IN MANAGING MOTORIZATION AND ITS RELEVANCE TO OTHER COUNTRIES
Because of the rapid economic growth it sustained over the last forty years and the small physical space at its disposal, Singapore has had to give special attention to managing the process of motorization. It has been at the forefront in testing various new techniques, with notably the Area License Scheme introduced in 1975, the Vehicle Quota System established in 1990, and Electronic Road Pricing starting in 1998. This paper reviews these schemes within the broader context of Singapore's development, with particular emphasis to the situation of those at the bottom of the income-scale who, in many cities, are suffering from the rapid spread of private transport. The main findings are that the policy initiatives fulfilled the purposes the Government had in mind (avoidance of the widespread vehicular congestion and pollution characteristic of most other major cities in the region, and continued attraction of international businesses to set up shop in Singapore). Despite the inevitable imperfections of the policies - and, more seriously, of related land-use and resettlement policies - the motorization restraints had no major negative side effect on economic growth or the improvement of social welfare. In addition, rationing scarce physical space by the price mechanism - the common theme of Singapore's motorization-related policy innovations - generated large funds for investment in improvements much beyond transport, and enabled reductions of other, less desirable taxes. Singapore's road pricing experiments have generated much technical interest from cities in advanced countries concerned about traffic congestion. But the package of policies applied may be most relevant for examination by developing and transition country cities that need urgently to find new ways of raising financial resources to meet the huge needs arising from population growth and resettlement.
- Record URL:
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Corporate Authors:
World Bank
1818 H Street, NW
Washington, DC United States 20433 -
Authors:
- Willoughby, C
- Publication Date: 2000-4
Language
- English
Media Info
- Features: Appendices; Figures; References; Tables;
- Pagination: 46 p.
Subject/Index Terms
- TRT Terms: Developing countries; Economic growth; Electronics; Highway travel; Investments; Land use; Licenses; Low income groups; Management; Policy; Pollution; Road pricing; Social benefits; Traffic congestion; Transportation planning
- Uncontrolled Terms: Vehicle quotas
- Geographic Terms: Singapore
- Subject Areas: Administration and Management; Economics; Environment; Geotechnology; Highways; Planning and Forecasting; Policy; Safety and Human Factors; I72: Traffic and Transport Planning;
Filing Info
- Accession Number: 00807012
- Record Type: Publication
- Report/Paper Numbers: TWU-43
- Files: TRIS
- Created Date: Mar 4 2001 12:00AM