Grace Period For HDB & URA Car Parks To Be Shortened To 15 Minutes From 1st September

The grace period for short-term parking in HDB and URA car parks was originally extended to 20 minutes to facilitate the influx in home delivery volume for food and groceries during the Circuit Breaker.

But as Singaporeans gradually returned to the office with the easing of COVID-19 measures, the authorities have determined that they'll need to relook into the duration of the grace period.

For some context, motorists were only given 10 minutes grace pre-pandemic to find a parking spot, and go about doing their business (think drop-offs and/or pick-ups). It was only when the Circuit Breaker was implemented back in 2020 that the authorities saw a need to temporarily extend the grace period to deal with the surge in riders and drivers carrying out deliveries of essential goods to residents.

But this extension was always meant to be a stop-gap measure, and was to be reversed when the situation no longer calls for it. And it appears that now does seem like the time, considering COVID cases are falling and more companies are mandating a work-from-office default. 

The New 15 Minute Grace Period Is Still Longer Than Pre-COVID

The 15 minute grace period is still up from the 10 minute from pre-COVID. Why is the original 10 minute duration not reinstated? Well, according to government data, a 15 minute grace period, even at the height of the pandemic, was sufficient.

Accounting for the continued growth of the e-commerce sector in Singapore, the additional five minute duration (over pre-COVID) means there should be ample time for delivery riders to successfully conduct their drop-offs.

Read More: LTA To Revise COE Quota Calculation Method With The Aim Of Reducing Volatility

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