Skip to Content
Streetsblog USA home
Streetsblog USA home
Log In
Cars

Singapore Says No More Cars

12:59 PM EDT on October 24, 2017

That’s enough! Photo: Sean Gerrity/Flickr

The island city-state of Singapore is capping the number of cars on its streets.

To own a car in Singapore, you need a permit. And beginning in February, the Singapore government will cease to issue additional permits. Currently, permit growth is capped at about 0.25 percent annually.

Space is just too limited to accommodate more motor vehicles. "In view of land constraints and competing needs, there is limited scope for further expansion of the road network," the Singapore government said in its announcement of the car cap.

At 277 square miles, Singapore is about the size of Lexington, Kentucky. About 12 percent of its land area is consumed by roads. Geographic constraints help explain why Singapore is a global innovator in traffic management, first introducing downtown congestion pricing back in 1975.

While Singapore is unique in some respects, it's also responding to the same pressures that face any urbanized area of sufficient size. Cars don't fit, so Singapore is investing in transit.

The country has expanded the length of its rail network 30 percent in the past six years, according to the government's announcement, and is planning to invest US$14 billion on rail expansion and $3 billion on additional bus service over the next five years.

Singapore says it will reevaluate the hard cap on cars in 2020.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog USA

Why We Care About Some Transportation Tragedies More Than Others

Why do we respond to major transportation disasters with so much urgency — and why don't we count our collective car crash epidemic among them?

March 28, 2024

The Toll of History: MTA Board Approves $15 Congestion Pricing Fee

New York City's first-in-the-nation congestion pricing tolls are one historic step closer to reality after Wednesday's 11-1 MTA board vote. Next step: all those pesky lawsuits.

March 28, 2024

Take Thursday’s Headlines Home, Country Roads

Heat Map reports on why rural Americans are resisting electric vehicles, and why it might not matter much for the climate.

March 28, 2024

Guest Commentary: Traffic Engineers Must Put Safety Over Driver Throughput

No other field would tolerate this level of death and destruction. The tragedy of West Portal is more evidence that the traffic engineering profession is fundamentally broken.

March 27, 2024
See all posts