Why is HDB giving BlueSG cars such special treatment?

I applaud the recent moves by various business entities here to push for a greener Singapore.

Among them is BlueSG, an electric car-sharing service which aims to reduce vehicular ownership and indirectly reduce our carbon footprint (Large-scale electric car sharing scheme kicks off; Dec 13, 2017).

The HDB, in support of such an initiative, has provided "reserved" parking spaces for BlueSG in some of its carparks.

At the multi-storey carpark Q77M in Holland Drive, for instance, four parking spaces on the ground floor, usually reserved for season ticket holders, have been repainted blue. But on the same level, only one parking space has been assigned for handicapped drivers.

I am puzzled as to why the HDB has given a private business entity the privilege of reserving parking spaces in residential areas?

If a season ticket holder cannot reserve a parking space, why allow businesses to do so, and at the expense of residents?

I have other questions:

•Why did HDB place these "reserved" spaces on the ground floor? They should be placed on level 5 or higher, in spaces meant for non-season parking.

•How was the number of spaces derived? Of the four spaces allocated, most, if not all, of the time, only one is occupied by a shared car, leaving the others under-utilised.

•Why not place these "reserved" spaces in unoccupied carparks? For instance, near the junction of Holland Drive and North Buona Vista Road, there is an empty carpark (H0004) where the old HDB units have been torn down.

I hope the authorities can review these issues and provide answers.

Lim Yew Beng

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on January 03, 2018, with the headline Why is HDB giving BlueSG cars such special treatment?. Subscribe