Despite a sizeable reduction in the number of parking spots in the Central Business District in recent years, a check by The Straits Times found that many downtown carparks still have available season parking spots.

The district lost 704 carpark spaces in July 2011 with the demolition of Market Street Carpark. It has since been redeveloped into an office building with 180 parking spaces.

Last year, plans were revealed to convert Golden Shoe Carpark, also in Market Street, into an office tower with 350 parking spaces. Golden Shoe could fit 1,053 vehicles.

The area will also see new cycling paths in Market, Malacca and Phillip streets, connecting to a wider cycling network.

Whether or not these moves will get more CBD workers on bikes and trains remains to be seen, but the loss of parking spaces has not caused a crunch.

For example, office building One Raffles Quay, with 713 carpark spaces, has no waiting list for season parking, which is open to non-tenants. The cost of season parking there is $481.50 a month.

The Clift condominium in McCallum Street offers season parking at $321 per month and shopping mall Icon Village in Gopeng Street offers it at $230. Both carparks, which can take more than 200 vehicles each, also do not have queues for season parking.

Also, parking in the CBD here is significantly cheaper than other major cities. A 2011 Colliers survey showed that CBD season parking rates in Singapore, at a median price of $278.20, are almost a third of those in similar areas in Tokyo and Hong Kong. Monthly parking fees in London's CBD that year had a median rate of over $1,300.

Adapted from: The Staits Times, 3 Apr 2018