Advantages and Disadvantages of COE

Advantages
- As Singapore developed and Singaporeans grew affluent, car ownership became prevalent. By the 1980s, there was a need to manage the rapid growth in the number of vehicles in relation to Singapore's  road capacity. Eventually, there was a recession of Singapore's car population of 1985 
- Singapore roads became more smooth flowing


Disadvantages
- The auction-styled system that the COE is based on favours the wealthy who can afford to bid with higher prices for COEs and can even afford a few COEs for multiple cars they own.
- The lower income families, which need a car more, are forced to pay the COE prices that are driven  up by demand.
Critics have suggested that the system could be changed to a pay-as-you-bid model such that successful bidders would pay the same figure they bid rather than pay the highest figure of all the bidders