Park & Ride succeeds in taking cars off the road

I am puzzled and disappointed by the Land Transport Authority's (LTA) decision to discontinue the Park & Ride scheme ("Park & Ride scheme to cease from Dec 1: LTA"; ST Online, Oct 14).

The LTA said that there are fewer than 2,000 regular users of the scheme, and of these, only about half take public transport after parking their cars.

It noted that this suggested that some motorists could be using the Park & Ride scheme as a cheaper form of parking, which defeats the purpose of the scheme.

If the purpose of the scheme is to ease traffic congestion, then it does not matter whether a Park & Ride user goes on to take public transport. As long as the vehicle is not on the road, the scheme's purpose is fulfilled.

I have been using the scheme for more than three years, and have found it to be a good scheme for drivers and for the environment, as it reduces pollution.

In fact, monthly Park & Ride tickets for the carpark that I use, Pine Close, sell out very quickly. Even after an increase in the monthly quota, it still sells out within the hour ("Retain scheme at popular sites near CBD" by Mr Chia Chien Loong; Oct 18).

I am puzzled as to how the LTA determined that half the users did not take public transport after parking their cars.

For my part, there are many months where I do not use up all the $40 credited into my Park & Ride ez-link card. The unused balance is forfeited at the end of the month.

I hope the LTA will not penalise those who use the scheme correctly and will not be overly calculative in implementing the scheme.

Yah Jun Yang

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