Number of cars in Singapore at five-year low

SINGAPORE — The number of cars in Singapore is falling, latest statistics from the Land Transport Authority (LTA) show.

The number of all registered cars stood at a five-year low of 575,353 at the end of last year, according to figures first reported by the Straits Times and released on LTA’s website.

The number of cars on the road hit a previous low at the end of 2010, when the figure was 584,399. In July last year, TODAY reported that more people here have been giving up their cars in recent years, with the car population peaking at 607,292 in 2013 before heading south since then.

The number of rental cars, however, has risen to a record-high 29,369 - a jump of over 10,000 vehicles from last year - due to high demand from alternative taxi services like Uber and GrabCar. Taxi population remained stable.

The number of buses is also at an all-time high thanks to the government’s Bus Service Enhancement programme whereby government-funded buses are added to the public bus network.

These figures provide a snapshot of vehicle ownership in Singapore ahead of the second Certificate of Entitlement (COE) bidding exercise of the year, which closes at 4pm today (Jan 20). Higher quotas for the February to April period were announced after prices continued tumbling against expectations at the last exercise.

The supply of COEs is mainly determined by how many cars are de-registered.

According to figures from the LTA, more than 100,000 cars will turn 10 years old this year and many motorists could opt to de-register their cars, making more COEs available.