The Government's initiative to review and improve the current Certificate of Entitlement (COE) policy has sparked a mixture of reactions among the public. The initial signs, though, are tipped towards supporting of the plan.  

The Straits Times reported that traders and experts in the motor industry are in favour of the proposal to put on a heftier surcharge on those who own more than one car. This came as one of the suggestions to promote equality in car ownership.

Online readers of the local paper have voiced their support too, with only five out of 74 remarks on the article against the move.

There are also a few voices that called for an outright ban for multiple car ownership.

President of Motor Traders Association, Mr Cheah Kim Teck, said, "In a society like ours, there's no need for anyone to own more than one car."

However, he added that classification and separation of luxury and budget cars may not help to promote social equity.

Expert on transport issues, University Don Ivan Png, re-directed the discussion to the role of the COE system, which is to control car population. He commented that two issues - social equity and congestion control - should not be mixed.

Dr Alex Erath, researcher at Future Cities Laboratory, felt that motorists should be taxed according to their usage of the roads. Speaking to The Straits Times, he shared his thoughts about a distance-based road pricing system, and believes that it can effectively replace the current COE policy.