Commentary: COE debate should not be about putting cars within everyone’s reach

Singapore’s transport system has worked because people broadly accepted its trade-offs. That acceptance depends not only on the efficiency of transportation modes, but also on whether policies feel fair, responsive and grounded in lived realities.

Public engagement is therefore more than a technical exercise. The latest phase – involving more than 400 participants in thematic discussions, alongside shadowing across 21 commuter profiles – shows the value of grounding policy in lived experience.

The next test is how these insights inform the COE consultation paper due later this year and the wider Land Transport Master Plan refresh in 2027.

Singapore’s transport debate has long centred on cars. The next phase should centre more clearly on people.

The question cannot stop at who gets to own a car. It must also ask how public transport, point-to-point services and shared cars can provide reliable mobility across different stages of life, without turning every need for flexibility into a need for car ownership.

Samuel Chng is a Research Assistant Professor at the Lee Kuan Yew Centre for Innovative Cities, Singapore University of Technology and Design, where he heads the Urban Psychology Lab.