Yes, indeed, if the government is to encourage more people to give up private transport in favour of public transit, they must use the extra income collected from raising car ownership costs and such on improving the navigability of public transport, among other things. Simply jacking up it’s cost is not going to help if public transport continues to be difficult to navigate for the uninitiated. I often hear about people who are absolutely lost when they go from private to public transport.

I like your suggestion in regards to using light buses to link people to the nearest MRT station. I have often envisioned bus routes using such buses plying straight into residential carparks to pick up commuters almost directly from their doorstep and ferrying them to an MRT station or bus interchange. Such a system could be more efficent than the current feeder bus system or the direct-to-city premium bus services, which are fixed to not-always-conveniently-located bus stops within a new town.

The navigability of Singapore both by public transport and on foot must be improved – there are a lot of areas that are sorely lacking in Singapore when compared to other cities in developed countries. Nobody likes to be lost, and non-existent or confusing maps and signages will only serve to compound the problem.

Thank yo for writing (9.53 pm) in a clear manner, the points in support of maps, signage and toilets. I agree with your observations.

I like your point about a relevant authority to decide on the standardisation of signage. I think that it should be the work of the Land Transport Authority. I hope that they will take this item into their budget.

So much of our lives involve moving around. As LTA is now encouraging the use of public transport, the maps and signages will be a big step to achieve this goal.

A senior correspondent of the Straits Times said that “Park and Ride” should be made more convenient for motorists. I think that there will be insufficient parking spaces to cater for this need.

A better solution is to have local transport, using light buses. I also hope that LTA will take the lead here. Many motorists will be happy to take a feeder bus (if convenient) to the MRT station and take a ride on the MRT. They can leave their car at home, instead of a place at the MRT station.

At the other end, they will need maps and feeder buses to move to their destination.

With the increase in ERP charges announced today, and the higher petrol prices, it makes a lot of sense to use public tranpsort. But LTA must make it convenient and confortable for the commuters.

In Singapore, there is not a standard on how signages and maps should be designed. We have a multitude of signages, with an euqally bewildering multitude of typefaces and symbols. With the exception of those put up by the LTA, signages are often designed more with aesthestics in mind, sacrificing function in the process. Maps are often quite lacking – unless you happen to be at a bus stop in the city area (usually) or an MRT/LRT station. And even then, those are usually frought with inaccuracies and are not easy to read for the uninitiated. Bus network maps often show the bus routes for only one company, totally omitting the routes of other bus companies. It’s not unusual to find two bus network maps at bus interchanges where both companies’ bus routes serve. Such unnecessary duplication of information and recources is not only wasteful, but confuses and frustrates the hurried commuter.

And I think it’s time someone seriously tackled the lack of public toilets. I was at the Changi broadwalk some time back, when I needed the toilet. However, there was no public toilets anywhere near – all the toilets are located within private clubs – and it was only after taking a long walk to the Changi Village hotel that I managed to find one. Not only that, but it’s not unusual to find public toilets – when you do get to one in a rather unusual spot, such as a park – badly maintained and dirty – a combination of inconsiderate users and poor maintenance.

For the signage issue, I believe the relevant authorities should set up a joint authority to standardise signages and put up more, standardised maps in Singapore. Such a standard should follow some of the standards already in place, such as LTA’s symbols denoting a facility for buses, MRT, LRT, or taxis, and the white-on-brown standard used to indicate a tourist attraction, to minimise further confusion. Once a standard is agreed upon, these should be released as guidelines for property developers to follow while new signages and maps be put in places under the authorities’ control.

As for the toilet issue, it could be desirable to mandate a public toilet in all commercial buildings within the city centre. There should also be a public toilet within 500 metres of any location within a new town, as well as within public parks and park connectors. There should be a standard of cleaniness for public toilets, and property owners have the responsibility to ensure that they meet the standards. Chronically-failing toilets will be placed under the care of the Ministry of Environment and Water Resources until the owner can be shown to maintain the toilets to the desired levels of cleaniness.

All this will inevitabily cost a bomb, yes, but seeing how much has been spent on other projects such as covered linkways and new elevators, all these shouldn’t be too much to ask for.

As for signage, I’m not sure how they going to do it. Buildings in Singapore are are built quite close to each other. Too many signage may confuse drivers or pedestrians instead of helping them.

As for toliets, i don’t see an urgent need for it. There are plenty of coffeeshops, shopping centres, Hawker Centre, MRT Stations, Interchanges, etc in towns or in city. Unless we are visiting friends in HDB estates, then toliets are hard to find. But since we are visiting friends, that means we should be using the toliets of our friends or relative shortly anyway.

Adrian Khiat
http://akhiat.blogspot.com

When I was in Taipei, I saw the marquee crawlers. It shows the previous station, current station and next station. This is helpful.

If we missed the previous station, we are also alerted. It is also nice to know what is the next station to expect.

Many a times, you can’t hear the announcements, especially on the older trains. When a train is underground, it is extremely noisy, people talking, sometimes kids switch on their mobile phone radios or MP3 players, and so on. The trains are crowded and you can’t even peer out and see the station’s signs.

I think the SMRT and SBS Transit should consider installing marquee crawlers at the top of each exit door of the train. This way, we can all see and read and know which station we’re at.

The Indonesians recognise that public toilet is a necessary facility and make it easy for people to look for it. There are no charges to use the toilet.

If you travel to Hong Kong, I like their MRT maps/signage, it is very easy to understand and helpful. I wonder why our SMRT did not follow this good practice. And it will be great if maps to the nearby area can be found at MRT/Bus stop, it will definitely make our lives easy.

As for toilet I do not mind paying for a clean toilet like those found in Europe. We just need to deposit a coin into the cubicle and we can use it.

I remember in the past that it was quite hellish to visit a public toilet. The stench and dreadful sights were atrocious and nauseating. Now, it is not so bad. So, kudos to Amy Khor, who was put in charge of raising the cleanliness standard of our toilets.

Bus-stop directories
can LTA/SMRT/SBS Transit or whoever-in-charge please have some consistency in their bus-stop directory? Some bus-stops list down every bus’s stopover (the ones that the bus has passed are in light grey, the ones that are up ahead in black) — this is excellent n easy to read! But strangely, the bus-stop directories are inconsistent. Some have the full list, some only show the bus stops up ahead. gosh..

Maps at bus stops
and yes, please give us maps at bus-stops. For places undergoing development / redevelopment, sure..let’s do without a map for the time being. But for developed and areas with not-much-changes-to-be-expected, a map is warmly welcomed (by locals and tourists!)

Cheers
hongjun

The public toilets can be outsourced to private operators. The operators can levy a charge (as agreed with the agency) or provide it for free, for a monthly fee paid by the agency.

Some busineses may welcome the chance to be selected to provide this facility. They get a monthly fee and attract traffic who can be potential customers.

The public have access to the facility and can find them easily, through the directional signs.

In every big city in China, you will find North, South, East, West directions on the road signs. Eg. a rectangular sign showing “Nanjing Road” will indicate at the sides where’s E and where’s W.

(They really just need to show one, and the other 3 directions follow.)

Just a simple alphabet can save locals and tourists alike a lot of trouble. How many times have we waited on the wrong side of the road for a bus when we are in unfamiliar neighbourhoods? Or when we open the street directory, and still find it difficult to locate ourselves, especially when we are unfamiliar with the buildings around?

I understand that there might be ambiguity since Singapore roads are not in grids. But still I think it’s only small effort. Meanwhile we can only depend on the direction of our shadows to guess the direction, and think of other ways when it’s cloudy or at night or midday.

Many people will stay that this is a lot of money. But I think that it is money well spent, as it will help many people to use public transport (i.e. bus) and also get around by walking.

Singaporeans can become great guides overnight. And give a good impression to tourists.