The Certificate of Entitlement (CoE) is a scheme instituted by the government of Singapore to curb car ownership, and hence, the number of vehicles on the country's roads. A small variety of cars, the most popular kind of automobile. ... Ownership is the socially supported power to exclusively control and use for ones own purposes, that which is owned. ...

This system, in effect, requires residents of Singapore to bid for the right to buy a motor vehicle, with the number of certificates deliberately restricted. There are five categories of CoE, as follows:

Non-transferable categories:

Category A : Cars (1,600cc and below) & taxis

Category B : Cars (1,601cc and above)

Category D : Motorcycles

Transferable categories:

Category C : Goods Vehicles and Buses

Category E : Open Category

An additional restriction on car ownership is the requirement that motor vehicles more than ten years old, known as 'time expired' vehicles, must either be scrapped, or exported from Singapore, usually to neighbouring countries. Some of these vehicles have been exported further afield to other right hand drive countries like New Zealand, which has traditionally imported such vehicles from Japan. This article concerns rules of the road regarding land vehicles; for sea-going vehicles, see International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea. ...

Owners of such vehicles are given financial incentives to do this, which include a Preferential Additional Registration Fee (PARF).

Although this policy was implemented to reduce and help ease traffic, many Singaporeans find this system to be ineffective. The government later went on to implement Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) to further help ease traffic congestions. In reality, the ERP effectively solves congestion in one area but causes another elsewhere. Various debates are on to question the purpose of COE & ERP apart from generating more reserves for the government. ERP Gantry at North Bridge Road The Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) scheme in Singapore is a form of congestion charging through electronic toll collection. ...

External Link

• Land Transport Authority