Rejected by ST Forum
LTA and the COE system
Dear Sir,
I refer to the recent spate of letters about LTA and the COE system.
There is no doubt in my mind that the COE system has created social inequity, and that the LTA is a government organisation with abitrary powers to set prices and land transport policies without any form of checks and balances.
Two months ago I wrote in to query the fees which LTA imposes on transfer of second hand vehicles, which often runs into thousands of dollars. LTA was kind enough to reply in this Forum, although it did not give any reasons for the transfer fee (other than that like stamp duty, it serves basically as a form of tax to enrich its coffers at the expense of second-hand car buyers). LTA also promised to review the transfer fees on a regular basis. Translated, it means that, "LTA will set the fees any way we like, either pay up or shut up".
No one has questioned what gives the right for LTA to set fees at all, even less why the fees should be set at such a high level, because there is no check and balance on LTA.
The COE system has been in operation for more than 10 years now, and every day I am surprised to find that people accept the rationale of the COE-- that you have to pay $40,00 to $60,000 for the right to own a car. The reason given is that without COE controls, our car population would balloon and traffic would come to a standstill, like Bangkok and many other cities.
Frankly, I'm on long-term assignment in Bangkok now, working there 5 days a week, and I have not seen any traffic jams that are worse than any that are on the CTE or PIE, even with the ERP charges. For so long LTA has used other cities as whipping horses that the myth of Singapore being congestion free because of COE and ERP while other cities suffer 20-mile-long traffic jams has now been accepted without question-- this shows the effectiveness of propaganda.
What is worse is that every time motorists adapt and learn to beat the system, the LTA redraws the rules in its favour. For example, when market imbalances several years ago caused the weekend car COE to be substantially cheaper than the "regular" COE, to the point that it was cheaper to buy a daily licence everyday for the weekend car COE than to buy the "regular" COE", the government said it was an "abuse" of the COE system and introduced countermeasures immediately. More recently, when the "freak" $50 COE happened, the Government also threatened to redraw the rules if the "freak" trend continued.
Look at all the countries in the world. Are we not freaks to pay $60,000 for a COE to begin with?
As a nation, we have to ask if the billions of dollars motorists have been made to pay for (in my view) not-so-smooth flowing traffic is worth the economic loss to the nation if there is a little more traffic congestion. Traffic congestion is not the monster LTA has made it out to be; people will still be able to go to work, schools will still be able to function, companies will be able to make deliveries. People are adaptable; they will learn to work with constraints; they will organise themselves; they do not need others to decide what is good for them. The freeiest expression of people power is democracy and free markets, which is why the most successful nations of today are those with the most liberalised markets. Other sectors of the Singapore economy (telecoms, banking, etc) are already being slowly liberalised, so that maximum value can be created by market players, for the good of society.
In the area of land transport policy, we need to examine the heavy-handed powers given to LTA; create a proper system of checks and balances; re-examine the "myths" that we have been perpetuating to see if they are still valid; have fresh, new thinking and re-examine policies such as COEs and ERP; and open public debate on how to improve our transport system, not just in Select Committees, but genuine open consultation and debate over a long period of time to hear all views.
Lee Wai Leong