SonofaDude
December 24th, 2011, 08:26 AM
I presume a significant issue would be the time required to retrieve one's vehicle.
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Mechanised parking systems for HDB estates?
Housing Board tasked to study usage to help in resolving car park shortages
04:45 AM Dec 24, 2011
SINGAPORE - With older housing estates facing a shortage in car parks, National Development Minister Khaw Boon Wan has tasked the Housing and Development Board (HDB) to study the use of high-rise mechanised parking systems for these estates. Of the 1,800 HDB car parks islandwide, about 220 faced "localised shortages".
In his latest blog entry yesterday, Mr Khaw said former Member of Parliament (MP) Ang Mong Seng has strongly recommended mechanised systems after returning from a trip to China where he went to study them. "He (Mr Ang) said it would be cheaper and it needed less land. He added that it would be reliable," wrote Mr Khaw, who noted that such solutions have been adopted by Thomson Medical Centre and the National Heart Centre here.
Thus, Mr Khaw said the HDB has been tasked to evaluate the different technologies available and work through implementation issues such as waiting time for car retrieval, breakdowns and public acceptance. "If these issues can be sorted out, HDB should try it out," he added.
Writing on the Ministry of National Development's (MND) Facebook page last night, MP Lee Bee Wah felt that "it is an option worth exploring", especially for older estates where there is not much space to build new car parks.
While she noted that concerns raised - such as mechanical breakdowns - "are real", Ms Lee felt that "technology is changing and improving". "As MND GPC (Government Parliamentary Committee) chairman and an engineer myself, I would like to volunteer myself and my GPC members, to study this option together," said Ms Lee.
While Singapore has 900,000 HDB flats and 557,000 car park lots, Mr Khaw noted the problem of car park shortages was mostly felt in older HDB estates, which were built under old car park provision norms. In estates with four-room flats for example, 560 car park lots were planned for every 1,000 flats.
"This was adequate in the past but not any more. More Singaporeans now own cars and some own more than one car," said Mr Khaw, who noted that 5 per cent of HDB households own two or more cars. The equivalent norm now is 710 car park lots for every 1,000 flats. With these new norms, Mr Khaw assured that new HDB flats would come with adequate car parks.
The HDB has added 3,400 lots in the last two years and will add another 1,600 lots next year. These 5,000 lots cost S$66 million. It is also setting aside more reserved "red-lots" for residents, removing the Night Parking Scheme for non-residents and implementing Electronic Pricing System to increase turnover of short-term parking demand.
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Mechanised parking systems for HDB estates?
Housing Board tasked to study usage to help in resolving car park shortages
04:45 AM Dec 24, 2011
SINGAPORE - With older housing estates facing a shortage in car parks, National Development Minister Khaw Boon Wan has tasked the Housing and Development Board (HDB) to study the use of high-rise mechanised parking systems for these estates. Of the 1,800 HDB car parks islandwide, about 220 faced "localised shortages".
In his latest blog entry yesterday, Mr Khaw said former Member of Parliament (MP) Ang Mong Seng has strongly recommended mechanised systems after returning from a trip to China where he went to study them. "He (Mr Ang) said it would be cheaper and it needed less land. He added that it would be reliable," wrote Mr Khaw, who noted that such solutions have been adopted by Thomson Medical Centre and the National Heart Centre here.
Thus, Mr Khaw said the HDB has been tasked to evaluate the different technologies available and work through implementation issues such as waiting time for car retrieval, breakdowns and public acceptance. "If these issues can be sorted out, HDB should try it out," he added.
Writing on the Ministry of National Development's (MND) Facebook page last night, MP Lee Bee Wah felt that "it is an option worth exploring", especially for older estates where there is not much space to build new car parks.
While she noted that concerns raised - such as mechanical breakdowns - "are real", Ms Lee felt that "technology is changing and improving". "As MND GPC (Government Parliamentary Committee) chairman and an engineer myself, I would like to volunteer myself and my GPC members, to study this option together," said Ms Lee.
While Singapore has 900,000 HDB flats and 557,000 car park lots, Mr Khaw noted the problem of car park shortages was mostly felt in older HDB estates, which were built under old car park provision norms. In estates with four-room flats for example, 560 car park lots were planned for every 1,000 flats.
"This was adequate in the past but not any more. More Singaporeans now own cars and some own more than one car," said Mr Khaw, who noted that 5 per cent of HDB households own two or more cars. The equivalent norm now is 710 car park lots for every 1,000 flats. With these new norms, Mr Khaw assured that new HDB flats would come with adequate car parks.
The HDB has added 3,400 lots in the last two years and will add another 1,600 lots next year. These 5,000 lots cost S$66 million. It is also setting aside more reserved "red-lots" for residents, removing the Night Parking Scheme for non-residents and implementing Electronic Pricing System to increase turnover of short-term parking demand.