As incomes rose and car ownership increased, these measures were progressively tightened.
In 2009, for instance, the allowable vehicle growth rate was halved to 1.5 per cent, as policymakers sought to rein in car numbers and encourage a shift towards public transport.
This came against the backdrop of a decline in public transport ridership in the early 2000s, which was attributed in part to rising car ownership.
But as car growth slowed and investments in public transport increased, ridership rebounded strongly, rising by about 60 per cent between 2005 and 2014 to 6.65 million trips a day.
By 2014, it had become clear that managing car growth alone was not enough. The authorities recognised the need for a new approach to urban mobility, culminating in the launch of the Singapore Sustainability Blueprint in November that year.
“We will aim for a ‘car-lite Singapore’ by promoting and developing other modes of transport, making them more convenient,” then Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said at the launch.
