However, it does not want to do this by causing frustration to motorists.

Transport Minister Khaw Boon Wan said going “car-lite” was an important goal given the limited land resources of Singapore, but achieving this was not by “frustrating motorists by whatever means”.

Today Online quoted him as saying that while the majority of cities still “rely” on heavy congestion to discourage driving, this and other measures that frustrated motorists would affect the quality of life and create friction in society.

“If we can free up all this space (car parks and more road lanes), we would then have much more room for the things that really matter in improving our quality of life, such as greenery, parks, schools, community spaces and, of course, our homes,” he was quoted as saying.

He said car-lite cities were more liveable than car-centric ones.

Khaw said going car-lite depended on three factors: To have reliable public transport with the train system as the backbone, hassle-free connecting journeys (first- and last-mile connectivity) to nearby train stations and bus interchanges, and a strong shared system comprising taxis, private-hire cars and car-sharing.

The report quoted him as saying that this was all “doable” by 2030.

By then, Singapore would have 360km of train lines and 80 per cent of homes would be within a 10-minute walk of a train station, with dedicated cycling networks and air-conditioned pods shuttling within neighbourhoods providing first- and last-mile connectivity.

Malaysia is struggling to reduce the number of cars on the roads. Recently, parking charges at Kuala Lumpur City Hall-owned parking bays within the central business district were raised by 150 per cent. In other areas, too, parking charges have been raised.

The move has been slammed by frustrated motorists, who say steep parking charges are no way to reduce the number of cars on the roads.