ST : Parking woes in some HDB estates

Mar 28, 2010

Parking woes in some HDB estates

HDB is looking to ease the crunch faced by residents in 10% of its carparks

By Irene Tham

University student Cai Yizhan, who drives a car, knows what it is like to face a carpark crunch.

Most nights, the National University of Singapore computing student circles, in vain, the open-air carpark near his Housing Board (HDB) block.

It is chock-full by 10pm.

Next to his block is a multi-storey carpark. In desperation, he has parked there several times. But Mr Cai, 24, has twice been fined for doing that. His season parking ticket does not include the multi-storey carpark, for which a separate ticket is needed.

'Why must I pay twice?' asked Mr Cai, who lives in Block 124, Teck Whye Lane. He often ends up parking in other open-air carparks - all at least a 10-minute walk from his block.

The Sunday Times has learnt that residents of at least two public estates face nightly parking woes, with some - like Mr Cai - resorting to parking illegally and risking fines.

Apart from Teck Whye Lane, the other estate identified is Hougang Avenue 10. The Sunday Times spoke to 15 residents in all.

They said their parking problems started in the past two years.

This carpark crunch problem was mentioned in Parliament earlier this month. Parliamentary Secretary (National Development) Mohamed Maliki Osman said about 10 per cent of HDB carparks did not meet local parking demand.

He said this was due to changes in demographic profiles and car ownership patterns.

The HDB owns about 1,800 carparks islandwide. When contacted, its spokesman declined to identify the affected carparks. She said: 'In most carparks, there are sufficient parking spots for both residents and short-term visitors.

'However, due to the growth in car ownership among our residents in recent years, localised shortages are experienced at about 10 per cent of our carparks.'

Mr Cai noted that the carpark crunch in his estate started early last year.

Until the recent spike, attractive certificate of entitlement prices since January 2005 - mostly below $20,000 - attracted many Singaporeans to own cars in the past three years. The number of cars here crossed the half-million mark in July 2007, at 504,483.

There were close to 577,000 cars in December last year, compared with about 472,300 at end-2006 - a jump of 22 per cent.

Mr Cai, meanwhile, now tries to get home by 9pm.

Madam Tok Jee Kium, another Teck Whye Lane resident, said she has been fined twice, for parking beside double yellow lines and next to a disused rubbish bin centre.

'The open-air carpark is always full after 10pm. We have no choice but to park illegally,' said Madam Tok, 52, who runs a food business and lives in Block 119.

'We have been parking here for over 10 years and never had this problem until recently,' she fumed.

She does not buy a season parking ticket for the multi-storey carpark next to her block - which she said has available spaces - because it is more expensive. Parking at the multi-storey carpark costs $90 a month compared with $65 for the open-air carpark nearby.

The HDB said it will look into adding more parking spaces 'where it is feasible and cost-effective to do so'.

In the meantime, it has taken some immediate measures, including grouping more carparks within walking distance together to provide more spots for season parking ticket holders, and removing night parking so that residents with tickets have sufficient spots at night.

itham@sph.com.sg


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Teck Whye Lane



At Teck Whye Lane, the surface carpark serving Blocks 118 to 124 is grouped together with the ones serving Blocks 109 to 117 and Blocks 101 to 108.

In total, there are 1,116 spaces - mostly white, or non-season parking - in this group of three open-air carparks. Walking from one end to another takes about 15 minutes. The HDB said residents have bought season parking tickets (SPTs) amounting to 95 per cent of the spaces.

Since January, night parking has been removed to give priority to residents with SPTs. Visitors with night parking coupons can no longer park there overnight.

A resident at Block 105, who wanted to be known only as Mr Ng, 48, said removing night parking has freed up more spots.

But he still has to park four to five blocks away if he gets home after midnight. 'It takes me 15 minutes to walk home,' he said.

Although the carparks are for season parking from 10.30pm to 7am, free parking is still available on Sundays and public holidays.

On those days, visitors can park for free for the whole day in the white spaces but must clear out by 10.30pm.

University student Cai Yizhan, 24, said the free parking should be disallowed. He also suggested that the multi-storey carpark in Block 118A be included in this group of carparks.

SPT holders for the open-air carparks in Teck Whye Lane cannot park at the multi-storey carpark, and vice versa.

Ignorance of the rules may have worsened the overcrowded open-air carpark situation.

One driver, who declined to be named, told The Sunday Times that he bought the SPT for the multi-storey carpark but parked in the open-air carpark nearby.

He believed it was permitted because he paid more - $90 compared to $65 for the open-air carparks.

Irene Tham & Ng Hui Ying


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Hougang Ave 10

The carpark which serves Blocks 508 to 517 and Blocks 520 to 533 is grouped together with the one that serves Blocks 501 to 507.

Another carpark at the Hougang Sports Complex (across the road from Block 508) also belongs to this HDB carpark group.

There are altogether 1,728 parking spaces in this group of open-air carparks. Walking from one end to another takes more than 15 minutes.

The HDB said 99 per cent of the 1,728 parking spots in this area have been reserved by season parking ticket (SPT) holders.

At least 242 spaces are reserved for season parking from 7pm to 7am daily.

But finding a space is a nightmare at night, affected residents said.

Mr Yap Bee Huat, 43, comes home around 10pm to find his carpark full almost daily. He lives in Block 511, but often has to park four blocks, or 10 minutes, away.

'A lot of cars park illegally along the double yellow lines at night,' said Mr Yap, who runs a mover business.

'It also does not help that many spots are taken up by construction work due to HDB upgrading.'

The Sunday Times found about 20 spots littered with debris from HDB lift upgrading work in Blocks 513 and 521. Safety barricades also blocked residents' direct access across blocks, resulting in a longer detour from one end of the estate to another.

For example, if a motorist parks at Blocks 526 to 528 in Hougang Avenue 6 (where spots are supposedly more easily available), he would have to walk more than 15 minutes to get to the other end of this group of carparks (near Hougang Sports Complex).

One resident in Block 508, who wanted to be known only as Mr Tan, said he parks at the Hougang Sports Complex, about five minutes away by foot, when he comes home after 10pm.

Another resident said the carpark crunch problem is made worse by motorists shopping at Hougang Mall, about five minutes away.

Mr Mazlan Anuar, 52, a display designer who lives in Block 513, said: 'They park here from day to night.'

Irene Tham