Fewer COEs in next six months

The monthly COE quota for February to July is 3,728, according to figures released by the Land Transport Authority (LTA) yesterday.

This is a 3 per cent drop from the monthly quota of 3,844 for the period of August last year to this month.

An LTA spokesman told my paper that the quota for February to July could have dropped even more - by 17 per cent - to reach 3,197 each month.

But this was not the case because it stretched out a correction to the COE quota.

The correction - needed because of an over-projection in de-registrations of COEs in 2008 and 2009 - was to have taken place over the course of one year, but has been spread over three years instead.

Transport Minister Raymond Lim said in Parliament yesterday that this was done following a suggestion by the Motor Traders' Association to spread out the adjustments for the over-projections over a longer period.

When asked if there were any measures to control the surge in COE prices, he said that the objective of the COE system "is to ensure that the vehicle population grows at a sustainable rate so that our roads do not become gridlocked".

"The prices for the COEs are ultimately determined by the supply of COEs, and the demand for them."

COPIED AND PASTED FROM THIS LINK