We thank Ms Janagi Somu for her feedback ("Lift carpark barriers during peak free-parking periods"; Forum Online, March 10).

While the lifting of carpark barriers would help to speed up the traffic flow in the carpark during the free parking periods, it also has other implications which would result in inconvenience for motorists.

With the barrier lifted, the Electronic Parking System would not be able to capture the records of cars exiting the carpark. As a result, motorists would not be able to view updates on the number of available parking spaces at the entrance signboard.

Motorists who enter the carpark before the commencement of the free-parking period and exit when the barrier is lifted, may also experience difficulty re-entering the same carpark subsequently, as the system would not have recorded their earlier exit. As a result, they may encounter inaccurate deduction of parking charges.

We will study the feasibility of this suggestion further.

Eng Soh Seng

Director, Carparks

Housing and Development Board