Motorcycles to pay per-minute parking rate from 1 July 2014

New electronic parking rate at 500 HDB, URA carparks from today
By Yeo Sam Jo, The Straits Times, 1 Jul 2014

MOTORCYCLISTS who stop briefly at carparks will benefit from a new per-minute charging system starting today.

Introduced by the Housing Board and Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA), the new rate will apply to more than 500 of their carparks installed with the electronic parking system.

It could save frequent short- time visitors hundreds of dollars a year.

Bikers previously paid a flat fee of 65 cents for one day or night parking session at any HDB or URA carpark, regardless of how many times they enter and exit the carpark in that time.

The new rate - deducted electronically - will be about 0.3 cents a minute, or 20 cents an hour. The total charges at each carpark will stay capped at 65 cents for each parking session, or $1.30 a day.

National Development Minister Khaw Boon Wan, who announced the change in a blog post yesterday, said it would particularly benefit delivery and dispatch riders.

He said: "...Because they may cover several carparks, they can still chalk up considerable parking charges. And apparently, they bear these charges themselves, and not their employers... (Now), they will pay less than before, much less."

The move follows Mr Khaw's Budget speech in Parliament in March, where he accepted Nee Soon GRC MP Lee Bee Wah's suggestion to revise electronic parking system rates for motorcyclists and charge them on a per-minute basis. Ms Lee said many dispatch and delivery riders indiscriminately park their motorcycles at void decks or on the roadside to avoid chalking up parking fees.

A joint statement by HDB and URA said that under the new rates, a dispatch motorcyclist who makes five trips a day to these carparks for 20 days a month, with each trip lasting 15 minutes, can save $720 a year.

The existing grace period of 10 minutes will remain unchanged.

Dispatch rider Mr Seniman Haron said he is pleased with the new rates. "Before this, we had to run to make a delivery under 10 minutes to save money," said the 52-year-old, who delivers documents for a law firm and makes about 20 trips a day. "Now, at least we can walk and still not be charged so much."

Mr Khaw also said the employers of dispatch and delivery riders could help them further by "taking on some of the parking charges incurred".

Mr Seniman said he receives a $400 monthly allowance from his company for petrol, maintenance, Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) and parking expenses.

But he said this is not enough. "I spend at least $5 a day on parking, or $100 a month, $280 on petrol, nearly $50 on ERP and about $100 to change my engine oil. That's already more than $500. Hopefully, they can give us more."

Post by Khaw Boon Wan.

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