They still don't get it. And I doubt they can come out with measures to lure drivers back to public transport except imposing heavier ERP rates and reducing COE quotas. Straits Times had a few articles on transport because of you-know-what, including one titled "My other car is a bus" which can be summarised in a few lines below:
Singapore transport system (including bus/mrt/erp/coe blah blah) is goodThe innocent title "My other car is a bus" led me to believe that this is an article of a driver who takes the bus regularly and explains his reasons of doing so. But it was a jargon laden big picture type of article that quotes statistics and figures such as 12% of land are roads to convince readers that cars are bad, buses are good stuff. How could these articles appeal to the public to take the public transport when they don't address the "lesser" issues of unimportant stakeholders (public) such as inconsistent EZlink system and poor service management leading to empty/overcrowded buses.
Transport systems elsewhere are bad
We need to make our transport system 'better'
In another ST article on transport titled "Push to get more people to take public transport", it was laden with more facts, figures and statistics and worst, ominous signs such as the following.
The new land transport roadmap will have to contend with issues such as the level of tolerable road congestion, electronic road pricing (ERP) coverage and rates, and whether more trees should be cut down to make way for roads.= More ERP gantries
... ...
Improving the bus system, with full-day bus lanes, more stringent service standards, and more niche services for commuters willing to pay more for faster or more direct travel.
= Higher ERP rates
= More traffic jams with full-day bus lanes (and complains of over zealous wardens taking pictures and hazardous turns when you need to cut into bus lanes)
= More expensive public transport to pay for more "direct" routes
Before I get branded as an armchair critic, here's my suggestion for improvements on public transport before I would consider it as an option regularly.
1.) Remove those noisy and irritating TV Mobile.
2.) If 1.) is not feasible, at least improve it such that the screen will display the stage no., road name and bus stop information for the next stop. (If it can be done in Europe, why not SG?)
3.) Fix that darn EZlink over deduction problem
4.) Increase the number of buses/trains, that would improve the public transport service in two fold - reduced waiting time and more comfortable rides (more chances of finding a seat).
5.) Let private bus transport company compete with SMRT and SBS so that SMRT and SBS can improve their service and realise what they missed out
Note: Taxis are not included as public transport as it is not a good alternative to driving since it would cost as much as paying for my Getz if I take taxi to work and back everyday. Plus one could easily pay for petrol, erp and parking charges if one were to take taxis to work when they can drive.
singapore public transport sbs bus smrt train essay
Labels: Blog - Essays
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