Rise, ERP! Collapse, the Singapore dream!
Friday, 20 June 2008, 7:36 am |
Choo Zheng Xi
An angry tongue-in-cheek critique of ERP hikes (TOC op-ed).
If you are superstitious, a cave-in in the Central Business District (CBD) that left a 5m-wide hole in the ground could be more than bad engineering.It happened on the same day it was announced that five new Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) gantries were to go up by 7 July, bringing the islandwide total to a eye-popping 65.
However, signs are never easy to interpret. So if I were asked about what exactly the cave-in could be symbolic of, I would have to choose from several plausible answers.
1. Collapse in the credibility of the mainstream media
Anyone who read the front page article on the Straits Times would have been left slightly puzzled. How could such bad news have come off sounding so good? Upon deeper thought, that bewilderment will turn to anger, tinged with grudging respect for an excellently-disguised propaganda effort.
To add salt to the visceral pain any sane motorist would feel at this piece of bad news, the front page of the Straits Times trumpeted, in its subtitle, how “changes are aimed at making city traffic flow smoothly in the evenings”.
To me, this is the equivalent of cutting off someone’s legs to save him the fatigue of walking and expecting him to feel gratitude.
To add insult to injury, the article goes on to extensively quote from the Land Transport Authority (LTA) playbook, offering the public statistic after shocking statistic of ever-slowing road speeds. In the body of the article, an LTA spokesman offers the coup de grace: “The majority of people who pay do not get that experience [of uncongested driving].”
The logical conclusion, naturally, is that we should make it more expensive for more people to pay, hence making the experience more enjoyable for the ones left who can.
Taken to its logical conclusion, the last private cars left on the road in Singapore 2050 will belong to the well-paid individuals who made the policies which taxed everyone else off the roads.
If that’s not perverse, I don’t know what is.
This might have been mitigated if the ST featured a perspective from someone who actually drove a car without a motorcade.
Unfortunately, the other voices in the article belonged to Member of Parliament and head of the Government Parliamentary Committee (GPC) for Transport Mr Cedric Foo, and his deputy chairman, Mr Ong Kian Ming. Because of their service to our country, they are millionaires (they don’t actually have motorcades).
Or perhaps I am just narrow minded, unable to see the big picture, and we really should thank the Government for helping us smoothen the gravelled arteries of our county.
Unfortunately, we have little to be thankful for, which brings me on to the next possible interpretation of the cave in.
2. Collapse in the ingenuity of our leadership
It never strikes me how incapable our top civil servants are of finding a creative solution out of the problem we’re in.
The syllogism by which they’ve derived the solution is as follows:
1) There is congestion from people driving cars.
2) People drive less if they have to pay more.
3) Ergo, the more we make people pay, the less they will drive, hence eradicating the scourge of congestion.
This syllogism might make us all happier if there was a corresponding cap or decrease in cost of public transport. Unfortunately, the “Private Vehicle Department” people and the “Public Transport Division” staff do not seem to be on talking terms. Taxi fares have recently gone up, and bus fares were last raised in September 2007. Call this a hunch, but I feel another public transport price hike in the air.
This leads to the sad conclusion that many of us will soon be walking to work in the CBD. Good luck to you if you live in Pasir Ris.
The use of the language of the criminal law is indicative of how the establishment views driving. Motorist need to be “deterred” from driving by a starting deduction of $2, as “it has become increasingly more difficult to deter motorists with 50-cent jumps”.
It has become apparent that Singaporeans are completely sanitised to this miniscule increment. In fact, with ever-increasing wages, job prospects, and inflation, monetary disincentive is next to meaningless.
So why stop at the language of the criminal law, when you can actually use the full force of the damn thing? A more creative method of solving this problem is to mandate specific days on which motorists are allowed to drive according to the colour of their car, and penalise the black sheep (or cars) that break this coding system with mandatory imprisonment. As the roads will be packed with uniformly-coloured vehicles, violators will be easily spotted.
As there are seven colours of the rainbow, we can have one for every day of the week, so no motorist needs to be left behind.
3. Collapse of the Singaporean dream
Is the Government trying to lose the next elections? Despite Mr Foo’s protestations that “We should not mix up road usage measures like ERP with means to cope with general inflation”, I think the verdict of the motorcade-less masses will be unanimous: this is bad timing par excellence.
Perhaps to test the waters of public opinion for the sharks of dissatisfaction, Mr Foo and Mr Ong have been unhappily chosen to be the first to defend the hikes. One almost feels sorry for them. Almost.
Coming on the back of increased prices of basic foodstuffs like rice, vegetables and chicken, the Government isn’t just shooting itself in the foot, it is taking a machine gun to its leg.
But, the Government will protest, people who fret over the price of basic necessities are not the ones who drive anyway!
And this is where, in all seriousness, the Government has completely lost touch with the sentiments of its people.
Those who are turning to temples for free food handouts today are precisely those who are dreaming so fervently of a better tomorrow. Materialistic as it may sound, many Singaporeans from all strata of society look forward to the day when they get their own car keys. The stories most prominently highlighted in the Straits Times are of scholars or businessmen who came from humble backgrounds and who have done well for themselves.
Pride in private ownership is a sentiment that our Government, which has based its rule on a foundation of economic performance legitimacy, should understand well.
It would be the darkest hypocrisy for them now to put this dream out of the reach of the ordinary Singaporean by pricing us off the roads and then have their propagandists make us believe they are doing this for our own good.
If these are the guys behind our country’s steering wheel, I can’t help wishing they’d hand over the car keys to someone else.
*The title of this article has been changed from its original one by request from the author.
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Owning a car will never be cheap in Singapore.
Mr Wang sums it up when he said owning a car makes you a rather easy victim for the government’s Pay-&-Pay policies.
Just like lottery is a tax on the poor, ERP is a tax on the middle class. In both cases, they choose to pay the taxes willingly.
I accept the need for higher ERP charges, so as to reduce congestion on the road.
In my view, the Land Transport Authority should make it more convenient and comfortable for commuters to use public transport. I suggest the following measures:
1. Increase the frequency of trains and reduce the waiting time
2. Introduce “local bus services” to serve commuters within 2 km of a MRT stations
3. Provide maps at bus stops to make it easy for commuters to use the local bus services
My concept of a “local bus service” is similar to the system adopted in Hong Kong and many other cities in the world. It uses light buses or passenger vans, and is operated similar to taxis.
I encourage motorists to give up their private cars and take public transport to work. It is cheaper and more convenient. You do not need to drive on congested roads, or to find a vacant parking space and pay the exorbitant parking fee and ERP charges.
It takes some effort to learn how to use public transport (due to our complicated system). But it is worth it. Public transport is convenient, if you know how to use it.
I hope that our government ministers and officials, and members of the Public Transport Council will show the example to the public transport and experience it first hand. They can have a better idea about the simple improvements that can be made to improve the system.
Actually, I do agree with the ERP hike. A hike will encourage drivers to use other less congested roads or switch to public transport. Of course, the situation is never that simple, and there are always other problems generated by such policies, e.g. congestion in other roads, but I think all these comes down to the details of implementation. The overall direction and aim of this policy is appropriate.
There are the issues that speeds are still slow even with the ERP installed. But this does not necessarily imply that the ERP system is ineffective at solving our congestion problems. It could be that it has eased the congestion, but the original situation is so bad that the speeds after the use of ERP is still slow. Putting it another way, if there were no ERP, cars might come down to a standstill. I’m not saying that this is indeed the case; I’m just suggesting another possibility.
That being said, I think public transport in Singapore is in dire need of improvement, especially during peak hours. I wonder if the money from ERP can be channelled to offset rising costs of public transport.
I think there is a need for more transparency in LTA’s policies.
What is the target reduction of number of cars on the road, according to LTA’s projection for a smooth traffic flow?
If LTA can get the target number of cars off the road ( thorough positive discrimination e.g. incentives like cash vouchers etc making the drivers and their passengers take public transport), in addition to the ERP, perhaps it could be more effective.
In education, we have always been taught to use a balance between positive and negative reinforcements…………..so why not LTA practise it too?
Forget about suggestions. All they want is your $. The traffic outside Fullerton Hotel is not so bad that it warrants an ERP gantry. I hever had to wait more than 1 -turn of the traffic lights to pass in the evenings heading East. I just fail to see why there needs to be a gantry there. Watch this gantry effect carefully, it will cause a jam along Battery Road leading to Chulia Street and then in a few months, LTA will likely put up a gantry outside HSBC-Fullerton Hotel to tax those causing traffic speeds to fall ’significantly ‘in a 50-zone.
We are little rats stuck in a shoe box maze of ERP gantries. Uniquely Singapore.
On Transportation Services improvement, I totally agree with Kin Lian’s suggestions. Look no further than Hong Kong, our LTA should send someone to live in Hong Kong for a while and use only public transportation to get around and feel for themself. Or the government should ask the Sg Consulate people in Hong Kong to candidly share their experience and take a hint. It’s not a shame to adopt an efficient system.
Just for public interest and you be your judge. I think most who had traveled to Hong Kong will deifinite agree.
MTR frequency (like Sg MRT) - 1 minute interval during peak hours, 3~4 minute interval for non-peak. Excellent excellent link to shopping, residential, office building. Mutliple carefully planned exits. Even within the MTR station, you can do your banking chores, and there is no lack of convenient stores. Excellent connection between Kowloon City, Northern Terriotry, Hong Kong, suburb areas. You will never get loss even if it is your first trip to Hong Kong.
No short of MiniVan access to residential further from MTR station.
No shortage of connecting bus terminal.
Public buses frequency - 10 minutes for shorter route, 15~20 for normal route across the entire Hong Kong.
Taxis, arh yes the infamous Taxi experience, just can’t get it. Hong Kong has just about 19,000 taxis available for the entire population of 7million, Singapore has like what 22,000~23,000? Guess what? I never once fail to get a taxi in Hong Kong, waiting time no more than 2 minutes in most area city or urban. My longest ever waiting time, 5 minutes and this is near country-side area, late night. I am saying this is 24 hours round the clock. There is no mid-night surcharge. yes, you pay more for a taxi ride in Hong Kong anytime, but hey, its worth it. Trying to hail a taxi at is dreadful experience in Singapore.
if raising ERP rates worked, it would have sufficed the last few times… evidently not; people get accustomed to it, the same way people get used to the increased cab fares… some things you just can’t help. the cost of owning a car in singapore is already so high, people who have made the investment to Buy one are going to use it… even if logically they shouldn’t, at least within the CBD. public transport simply doesn’t cut it–anyone who has taken a train in the morning should know.
i’m not against raising ERP rates per se; the question should be, where does the money go? if the government is raising funds by taxing private transport in singapore, should the money not go towards making public transport better? more trains/buses, perhaps. or staggered train fares depending on peak/off-peak commuting. i think the latter is the best solution to solving the early morning train cram.. because some, like myself, will willingly opt to take an earlier train IF it is cheaper just to avoid the early morning congestion.
i agree with Kin Lian that our ministers should experience public transport first hand. they will have our respect for that, if they can commute to work like the rest of us plebs and yet still defend their transport policies as is.
[...] & Automobiles - A Singaporean: ERP again? - Hard Hitting in the Lion City: Take the Bus - TOC: I am superstitious about ERP - HWZ: ERP rates in CBD to go up, 5 new gantries [...]
Government increased the number of COE to allow inspired individuals to own cars and created this traffic congestion problem.
Well done the highly paid, far-sighting ministers.
Then, they raised ERP to fix all the inspired car owners.
Can you say these highly paid ministers are not far-sighting?
In general, I’m not against increasing the cost of driving around in private cars in land scarce Singapore.
However like the author, I’m also rather upset at this round of ERP increases.
Firstly I’m with him that the timing is EXTREMELY BAD. Of all times, when the small people on the streets are feeling the effects of the worst inflationary pressures in decades, the people up there make the biggest jump in ERP charges ever. Talk about being insensitive to the feelings on the ground. They, the “up there people” are totally clueless.
And with all that loud blaring earlier this year about “freezes in hikes of goverment fees and charges”, obviously the ERP was not part of the bargain. It makes me wonder which other way they are trying to skin the cat again?
Secondly, if they want to make it expensive for people to drive around in private cars, they also have to provide people with a viable alternative. The time difference between private and public transport is simply too far apart.
And as public transport is getting increasingly crowded the operators are simply reducing the number of seats in new trains and buses. And if less people get seats it means the quality of public transport is going downhill versus the comfort of private transport.
Honestly, when they tell people to have more kids - how do they expect a family with two or three young kids in hand to squeeze onto a jerky bus or train with no seats? When they want Ah Kong and Ah Ma in our aging population to go back to work, how do they expect them to squeeze on crowded trains with the young folks? Why spend millions to build wheelchair friendly facilities when I can hardly ever find a 1 m2 (one metre-square) space on a packed train to fit a wheelchair into?
It seems like up there they only think that “profits are good”, but have forgotten about the “public good”. And when they come up with their own policies - the people up there are not really talking to one another. Like the left and right front wheel of a car going in different directions. They need serious repair work!
For gawd’s sake, introduce a CBD shuttle service like Perth’s free transit buses.
This will prompt people to park at the “park n ride” lots around periphery and solve the vehicular congestion within the CBD without enlarging the taxable zone.
People love incentives, and a ring shuttle service would go a long way to actually reducing congestion..
I do not and cannot afford any vehicle except bicycle, but that aside, let us put the horse infront of the carriage and not the other round.
How can anyone in his right mind support the increases in the number of gantries and their rising fees first and then seek for improvements in the services of public transports. Should it not be the other way round? Should’nt the Authorities do their best to provide an efficient, time saving, less congested public transports? If and when such a public transportation is available and yet Singaporeans choose to own cars and cause jams, then motorists should be punished(made to pay). But when simple imitation of Hong Kong Transport System would help(many and me think so), but refused to be adopted by the local Authorities, then much is left for us to grouse.
Money makings have been suspected to be the main reason why Authorities in Singapore do what they did and the suspicions are spot on. Other better solutions are apparently sidelined for money making methods because there is the perennial concerns for the bottomlines of any/every schemes. This Scheming Characters(of money makings) of the Authorities is permanently imprinted in the minds of the average Singaporeans now.
Time to get the priorities and sequences(and consequences) right!
patriot.
Loyola
Free transit buses..in Singapore. You must be joking. How are we going to pay our out-of -this world class ministers the ? Any good solution is one that bring in more money to the government. Nothing is free in Singapore. You have to pay (admin fee) to even use your own Medisave money for medical treatment. Why even the PM says that he has to buy your votes.
Boboshooter
Well, they always enjoy stretching us to the ulmost limit.
Because they know this stretching excercise will last for 5 years. Comes the end of 5 year, they will give you a litte massage and momentarily everyone will again forget the painful experience from the earlier stretch.
“And with all that loud blaring earlier this year about “freezes in hikes of goverment fees and charges”,
They are also very good in showing us that false look of concern (better than those actors in Hollywood or Bollywood) about listening to our our feedback (in one ear and out another in split second).
Singaporeans have a high commendable threshold for taking this stretching excercise. It will be good to see how long they can last.
so is there anyway way can oppose , feed back , protest about this ERP. dun undertand heavy traffic u set up to lessen the traffic, car shift to other way to avoid ERP. other way set up ERP . still can find other way to avoid to ERP again ERP set up . even go home got ERP( toa payoh)might as well dun give out COE. take bus and mrt price go up and pack like sardine. very stressful . change gahment can ? i am willing to take the risk .
To add to Observer’s and Kin Lian’s comments,
i too live in HK and am very happy with the public transport system. I’m taking a guess here but i think one of the successes of the HK public transport system is that the govt allows free enterprise to come up with the solutions. the govt’s role is to regulate the system in general terms and make sure that whatever the companies do, its to the benefit of the commuter…not the companies (or their shareholders).
the number of taxis on the road is the result of demand and supply, not control. the number of bus companies and travel routes are based on competition - thus the optimal pricing and routes. etc etc etc…There is the tram, minibus, taxis, MTR.
Private residential estates provide their own service to bring residents to MTR stations during peak hours. The cost is shared by residents in their monthly management fee.
26 taxi organisations took 9 months to deliberate a HK$1 (SG 20cents) rise in fee - to make sure its a win-win for both commuter and taxi driver. and even that, they needed to get govt’s approval for this 20cent hike.
When one bus company wanted to buy over another bus company, the govt stopped it because it felt it will become a duopoly and will not be beneficial to the consumer. Buses have a single flat fee - those taking shorter routes will subsidise those taking longer routes. There is no fare cheats (no fines) and no need for ticket inspectors.
When MTR wanted to raise prices, shareholders (!!) and the govt challenged if they’ve looked at other areas of revenue to be profitable - advertising, retail rentouts at stations - before passing costs to consumers.
the Govt had a surplus budget last year, and they are giving tax breaks to transport companies this year, so that they dont raise prices.
So - to summarise - the HK govt doesnt have a heavy hand in the system. the govt regulates and offer guidelines. free enteprise and market competition will find the best solutions for the public.
perhaps this is the solution to improve public transport?
Raising ERP is an exercise in futility (unless you’re the one collecting the money) in easing congestion. you’re just shuffling traffic around without really reducing the number of cars on the roads. also, the ever increasing cost (and profits) of our public transport definitely does not help at all.
Hi everyone,
Just to share my thoughts. I spent some years growing up in HK and i find that Singapore’s transport system is nothing compared to HK’s.
Someone here mentioned that local authorities did not imitate the HK system when it is so obvious that the HK system of public transport is so much better. Let me share what is the reason behind Singapore’s failure to have a public transport system like Hong Kong’s: Poor population projection and town planning by Singapore’s bureaucrats.
It’s actually very simple. Hong Kong’s land is scarce and so the HK govt will tried to house as many people as possible within a certain parcel of land. With some many people being housed in an area, everything just fall into place. Why? Because you have the population density in a new estate required to make direct bus services, minibuses and train stations viable. Some estates in HK are so populous that each of them have their own bus terminals. I am not talking about the Singapore-style of one bus interchange to Ang Mo Kio or Tampines. In Hong Kong, within Shatin, almost each public housing estate has its own bus terminal. That is possible because of population density. Its not only transport alone that is made viable, shops, cinemas, wet markets and malls can survive becuase each estate have the required resident population to support it economically.
Look at Singapore. It is really poor town planning. HDB built flats that are too low in the number of floors. In HK, public housing blocks are at least 30 storeys high. At this rate, HDB estates CAN NEVER have the population density to make bus routes and other amenities viable within the estate itself. That’s why you have to travel to the interchange for everything. In turn, the interchange town centre would be bursting at its seams and its not a nice experience if you are living like more than 3km from the nearest interchange and train station.
In essence, the transport woes of Singapore has everything got to do with poor town planning because with the way how HDB build flats, you can never have the population density in an estate to make public amenities and shopping malls viable. Therefore, straight and direct bus routes are possible in Hong Kong and not Singapore. To think the colonial officials in Hong Kong back then had much better foresight than the “talented” Singaporean officials. What a shame.
bad timing i say….juz as the world is complaining about hikes….. wad r they trying to prove to the world?……ur ppl r complaining but look here…. we can still raise prices and our ppl dun dare raise a finger. seems to me our gahment is really getting over complacent.
Just to add on to my post.
In Singapore, if you notice, there is a tendency not to find up an estate with as many people as possible. If you at just say Tampines, you still have room to house more people. Hence you should tried to max out Tampines’ population density first logically. But that’s not the case. Before they max out Tampines, they stop building new flats there but instead open up new estates like Sengkang and Punggol. As i have pointed out, if you have a low population density in an estate, it will just not make public amenities viable. Many in Sengkang and Punggol are suffering from a lack of amenities already. Few buses ever ply along certain areas in Punggol because the population density is too low to make routes viable.
Weijia
You are right. increase population (in totality - either local, pr or ft) + fixed business location = increase commuting needs at bottom neck points = jam if the traffic between private & public tpt is not properly balanced.
Opening or widening new roads will only ease point to point travel.
Once the destination point is reached, the same jam will still occur unless timing of reaching or coming out from there is spread out. Practical ?
Talented & smart people like them should know this very well but do they want to openly acknowledge it or use it as a form of additional revenue stream while rationalizing it away as a form of traffic control.
if you people think this is bad, you are very wrong. this is only the beginning. wait till the population hits 6.5m, then you will know what life is in this paradise.
i also post at http://www.redbeanforum.com and http://www.mysingaporenews.blogspot.com
ERP is good. Each gantry point should increase to $100 so only the rich could afford. Better still, install all carparks in Singapore with one. Save the trouble of figuring where the hell are all the gantries.
Next have HRP(Human Road Pricing) - too many people walking around Orchard doing nothing causing human traffic jams. $1 for every 100m inside CBD. With today technology, it shouldn’t be hard to implement. So, don’t anyhow walk:)
Only an idiot would believe the ERP was designed for the purpose of controlling traffic flow.
an ill directed rant that shoots beside the point. the whole point of congestion charging is that each vehicle imposes costs on the others, so its driver should be made to pay for that cost. there’s very little objectionable in that, but i guess the whole point of the diatribe is to gain the blogging applause. The point is: if you can own a car you should not be quibbling about a few dollars paid in usage fees. And if you work in town/CBD - you ought to have even less reason to. Have you considered those who work in the industrial estates, where buses come once an hour?
what’s more troubling (though less sexy) is that public transport here is largely not up to scratch, because there’s simply not enough competition in the market. Comfort delgro is the largest or second largest transport company in the world - that boggles the mind, because that should not be the case, coming from such a small country (even if half its revenue comes from overseas). Deregulating the bus market would be a great start.
The coffers really take Singaporean for granted and for ride, don’t they ? Knowing that Singaporean will only complain temporary and then forget about it, the government now going full force to ‘exploit’ the people increasing the Entry cost from 50c to $2 and at the same time erect and opening as many as gantries as possible with more forthcoming. So where did so much money collected from ERP from these go to ? Why is it that despite so much money getting from the ERP, Singaporean still unable benefit from these ’surplus’ and still succumb to more PayAndPay policies.
I urge the government not to take Singaporean for a ride because they are lucky so far due to the obedient citizen. LKY and his coffers have already been exposed through the internet of because their so-called ‘world-class’ governance, and now doing more to oppress the citizen ?
Now let me see what is their next excuse ? Oh,,,, public transport like MRT, buses will increase in fare due rising oil price and also record number of people take them now, resulting in increasing operational cost. So in both way, we also kena hit and endup losing more to the coffers. Look like they piss us anyway, and drag us to a corner with no escape.
“if you people think this is bad, you are very wrong. this is only the beginning. wait till the population hits 6.5m, then you will know what life is in this paradise.”
Redbean, when that happens, we will have citizen ERP ! Everytime citizen pay ERP to enter Orchard road, and they will be given option to buy season pass. Our government must be damn proud of been the smartest and richest government in the world that is gifted in managing a country of screaming but helpless chicken that will adapt to anything oppressive anyplace and anywhere in Singapore after all, no one to tell the emperor that he is naked.
patriot ,
you are right. The mentality of the coffers are just about get money. Solving the traffic congestion is secondary. They ought to be the greatest con-man on earth. Why ? Because they are the government acting as business-man with no transparency and accountability and still able to silently reap immense and obscene amount of money that goes unaccounted for to the public, and endup as bonus and high salary for the coffers. I do not see erecting gantries as a solution to increasing population of vehicles. If they willing to pay themselves millions and yet come out a solution like this ? Aren’t we pampering the ‘useless peanuts’ ?
Therefore, it doesn’t matter what the coffers say, the money smells good to them. Now anyone wanna guess how much is the coffers getting in bonus ?
Now fellows,
“If ERP prices don’t rise, I’ll be worried”
The govt has made it very clear previously. Where there is road with a constant jam problem, ERP will be the solution. Whether it’s effective or not, it’s not important because ERP will generate very constant and increasing income for the govt. Therefore, ERP is not a genuinely intended solution unless you relocate the commercial buildings, residential blocks, shops, etc.
Why do we have a less than desirable public transport system compared to HK? The answer lies in the phrase, “CONFLICT OF INTEREST.’
Is there an omen to the cave-in coinciding with the
The govt has made it very clear previously. Where there is road with a constant jam problem, ERP will be the solution. Whether it’s effective or not, it’s not important because ERP will generate very constant and increasing income for the govt. Therefore, ERP is not a genuinely intended solution unless you relocate the commercial buildings, residential blocks, shops, etc.
Why do we have a less than desirable public transport system compared to HK? The answer lies in the phrase, “CONFLICT OF INTEREST.’ If you bother to check out the owners/directors of these major transport companies, you will come to a single conclusion. They are all managed to share the profits at the expense of commuters.
Is there an omen to the cave-in coinciding with the announcements?
My hunch is the present govt will be rewarded with a big hole to patch up at the next GE.
We must ask how did we end up with so many cars on the road even with COE’s intention to tamper car population. Is it the fault of the previous transport ministry in failing to forecast no. of cars against road growth,/population growth, public transport overcrowding. I still remember the long debate over whether the NEL shd be built. So, are we paying for some oversight by public planners?
“But take comfort. The Lee clan have private roads to their homes and offices that they show off to the world. Yes, in your time, you have bus lanes, I believe. Now, we have Lee lanes. These are lanes specially reserved for the Lee clan. Only their cars can use the lanes. The sensors on the roads detect any unauthorised cars or commercial vehicles and the law is harsh with such offenders. I believe the punishment is 5 years jail, 3 strokes of the rotan and a fine of $100,000.” — Letter From The Future [ http://i-came-i-saw-i-wrote-it.blogspot.com/search/label/Letter%20from%20the%20Future ]
Dear TOC,
In the spirit of your witty essay, may I append an old essay of mine, url above, with some parts relevant to the topic.
Passerby,
you brought up an interesting point. its likely poor town/transport planning. the people from LTA or SBS, or whatever ministry who plans public transport, never took into consideration population density, and work closely with HDB.
and i know the reason why. because the MPs or the planners dont LIVE in their own wards or HDB. each town council just focus on delivering just whats needed of them. No one bothers to go beyond whats required to truly serve the public.
The transport companies? their key concern is profits and returns to shareholders. They are not driven by a mission to serve the public in the first place. the government dont regulate them to serve the public, because in the end, the major shareholders are the government itself! clearly a conflict of interest, dont you think?
so, as i mentioned earlier, and echoed by others in this post - deregulation and letting free enterprise set the agenda is the solution. the govt should be free from having ownership of the transport companies, and set rules and guidelines for the free market to solve the problems.
I’m more concerned over the MRT and bus fare increases than ERP.
Converting more buses to CNG can help manage the bus fares but I don’t see a way out for the MRT in view of the oil price increases.
I think ERP is an incentive for businesses to move out of the traditional CBD area. Locating in places like Tampines, Serangoon, Woodlands or Jurong reduces the load on the main roads and thus reduces the worker’s need to pass through gantries.
If unavoidable, park & ride scheme is something I would encourage too.
I think businesses with sales staff who need to travel around Singapore should provide a bigger allowance to their sales people to help tackle this rising cost.
“a conflict of interest” is a strange term to the government.
Similar to the man who said it.
“What to do, it will happen again …“
Daniel;
the deeds or rather the problem solving skills of our leaders have been so consistent over the years that many laymen are of the opinions that even primary school children will be able to use the same method to overcome any problem.
And in the Blogosphere, many feel that the Ministers are grossly overpaid because they have rarely overcame any problem at the root.
In the case of car population controls, it is beyond anybody to understand why having came up with the COE Scheme, the car population seems to be out of their control. I opine that the Growth(due to loose control) of the car population is for more collections via more gantries and fee increases. There seems no other reason for failing to control car growth with COE Implementation.
I stand to be corrected; patriot.
http://i-came-i-saw-i-solved-it.blogspot.com/search/label/Public%20transport%20another%20SCAM%20by%20LIE%20KY
Public transport another SCAM by LIE KY
RH:
1. One would have thought that on such a tiny island of 650 sq km, it would be easy and quick to develop a decent bus and MRT system, given that Singapore has probably the highest density of people in the world to patronise such a system. I have written that ‘buses can come every 15 min or so [as alleged] to every bus stop and still collect enough boarding passengers to make a tidy profit’. Yet the entire screwed-up system is testimony to typical PAP stupidity and greed.
2. Why stupidity? On such a tiny island, just 42 km x 23 km, it should not take more than an hour to travel from anywhere to anywhere, even by bus, let alone dedicated-track MRT trains. Yet the geniuses in the PAP have developed a system of Bus Interchanges where you have to take a Feeder Bus from your home or office, after waiting at least 15 min, that goes NOWHERE — except to the nearest Bus Interchange. This ride typically takes 10-20 min depending on where you board, as it goes circuitously in circles to collect more fares [as in money] and NOT straight to the Bus Interchange.
3. At the Bus Interchange, you wait another 15 min or so [I am relying on the officially given average waiting time of 15 min or so but experience says it can be a lot longer -- 1 blogger recently complained of a 25 min wait -- all along the entire experience of getting from A to B]. Then you board your bus that travels out of your estate. This is thought by the geniuses to be a ‘long’ journey, hence this Feeder-Interchange-Interchange-Feeder System. Although we must try to remember that Singapore island is at maximum, 42 km wide, this arrangement means that any ‘LONG’ [ha, ha, ha, but it's no laughing matter to the poor daily commuters] journey is thus done from Bus Interchange to a slightly further Bus Interchange, typically, in the next town or estate. Which may be as near as just 10 km way! On this tiny island.
4. Then, from that second Bus Interchange, you again wait another 15 min for the last ride in a Feeder to your home or office. Thus, the entire journey, which, by car or any wheeled vehicle, would take no more than 30-45min, TAKES OVER 90 MIN, or even up to 2 hours. You wait a] for the Feeder, then b] at the Interchange c] at another Interchange, before finally boarding the last Feeder home.
5. Such F-I-I-F commutes mean not only more waiting time, but also more ride time on each and every bus as each bus must go along profitable routes, meaning it must pick up the maximum number of paying commuters, and, of course, not straight to where you want to go. Also, more commutes inevitably mean more bus fares, as even the geniuses must recognise. [But this is so profitable to the 2 Govt Companies running this scam that this is not considered a problem and so, never mentioned or even thought of as a problem].
6. In the old days, before PAP stupidity became paramount and overriding, before there was the MRT that must be made into a success, meaning — in Singapore — profitable, [so the MRT may even be a bad thing the way the PAP does it!] there were a whole panoply of buses running from place to place and you could usually take a SINGLE bus, so much cheaper and faster, to wherever you want to go, especially if you start from a dense estate and travelling to a popular place, like an office in the city. Only if you are from a sparse estate and travelling to an unpopular place would you have a problem, in which case, you’d probably take a taxi, or exercise your ingenuity and initiative to hitch a ride or share cabs or cars — solving your transport problem without needing recourse to an Almighty Nanny Govt. This ’sparse’ problem doesn’t exist any more today because there aren’t any estate that is sparse, except the rich areas like Holland Road and Bukit Timah, but then, there, they all drive big Lexus and so have no public transport problem, except, maybe, their maids, who usually cannot command the use of the second or third family BMW!
7. This ‘direct to destination’ efficiency is the case in Hongkong today. Hongkong has, all along, free competition even in buses. So the system that evolved there became so good that you could always hail a mini-bus from your estate and go to any popular place direct, in just one cheap, direct trip. And because the mini-buses are small in passenger capacity, and not allowed to have passengers standing, the mini-buses need not go on long, circuitous routes to pick up maximum passenger load to be profitable. No standing also means that each and every passenger has enough nice PERSONAL SPACE, very important in modern, crowded living. Another taxi-like advantage — the Hongkong mini-buses need no bus stops. So you hail the one you want from the kerb, which may be just outside your block. Then ask the driver to drop you right at your destination kerb. Thus, almost door to door like a taxi! This is a huge, advantageous feature in public transport. To see just how huge, compare with our PAP geniuses’ system in Singapore where buses MUST STOP AT BUS STOPS ONLY. This means a walk of 10-15 min to the bus stop in blistering sun or bucketfuls of rain. Then a repeat at your destination bus stop. Often, during traffic crawls, when you are driving behind a bus, the bus and you inch along, taking minutes to travel the say, 10 metres to the bus stop whereupon the bus then stops and take another minute or 2 for passengers to alight, while you wait impatiently behind until the bus moves off. In Hongkong, passengers wanting to alight during such a crawl would immediately get off and the mini-bus wouldn’t then need to stop at a bus stop for another minute or so.
Note that mini-buses are small, so alighting of passengers is very quick and do not hold up traffic behind. While at Singapore bus stops, each of which serves several bus services, [all big capacity buses] buses keep ‘bunching’ [another problem] so may queue back up OUT of the bus bay onto the road lane and thus hold up traffic coming along behind. This ‘bunching’, very serious during peak hours, means that commuters waiting at the bus stop often cannot see the bus service numbers of the buses queueing further back and so have moments of anxiety of missing the bus — they often do, when the bus they want have no alighting passengers and simply zoom past. And since buses may not alight passengers except strictly at the bus stop itself, and the buses are big capacity, buses further back queue some time for the front ones to move off [which is not easy especially during peak hours as they have to filter onto the next lane, thus slowing everything down and therefore hold up traffic, even creating jams]. Comparing free Hongkong and dictatorial Singapore, see how genuine competition, putting commuters’ interests first, and intelligent profit-making can evolve such a superior system? Whereas central planning in Singapore, putting profits first and commuters last [they are just really there to be milked for all they are worth] have resulted in a system that would have cost votes except that Singaporeans are intimidated [fearocracy], the PAP Govt gives out thousands in cash every election, blackmails [to leave Opposition-won constituencies out of national housing estates upgrading] and even rigs elections outright when they lose, by stuffing fake ballots, as witnessed by Mr David DUCLOS and his lawyer friend.
SO, IN EFFECT, HONGKONG MINI-BUSES ARE MORE LIKE TAXIS, GOING DIRECTLY TO THE DESTINATION, UNLIKE OUR HUGE, MEGA BUSES THAT MUST GO CIRCUITOUS ROUTES TO MAXIMISE LOADS. [We have huge Bendy Buses that combine 2 buses in 1, joined in the middle; plus huge Double Deckers. The stupidity of equating BIG with BETTER is plain. And typically PAP. Which is why LIE is so determined to make BIG Govt companies, to the detriment of SMEs, which are despised as "small" and being "unprofessional" and thus "unimpressive". This is one reason why LIE has wiped out SMEs and prevented their growth. Another reason is, of course, political, as is everything in Singapore. Too many successful SMEs will mean too many citizens who are no longer under the economic yoke of the PAP. Horrors! Cannot allow that. So wipe out SMEs and discourage too many independent entrepreneurs. Every time a small business succeeds, like the small handphone shops, the PAP Govt companies immediately launch their own copycat chains to compete UNFAIRLY with the originals, thus reducing their space and thus keeping them small. Oh, why is it that LIE Kuan Yew could copy so many things from Hongkong, from high rise public flats, to financial centre to MTR, etc, and yet does not have the brain or rather, the HONESTY to see all this?]
8. There is more LIE KY stupidity [believe me, he is involved in every single decision in Singapore. Former Minister LIM Kim San even related to the Straits Times that the early Cabinet even discussed the kind of Squat or Sit toilet bowls to have in HDB flats. As usual, LIE and Cabinet got it all shortsightedly and stupidly wrong -- typically -- and chose Squat. [50-50 and got it wrong!]. So for about 20 years, HDB dwellers had to squat. No problem for the young, fit, healthy and unpregnant but if you are weak from sickness, age or disability, or pregnant, squatting can be dangerous even. Only when after about 2 decades, when the geniuses realised that residents were spending hard earned money to change the Squat bowls to Sit bowls did they finally realised that this must mean something, and only then did the HDB started putting in Sit toilets in their new flats.
9. While I’m on the HDB, let me relate how, typically, my mother-in-law’s Block 29 in Havelock Road has no less than 5 lifts in the very long block. BUT 4 OF THE 5 LIFTS OPEN AT THE SAME 1; 5; 9; AND 13 FLOORS ONLY. Ha, ha, ha, lucky for those living on the 1, 5, 9 and 13 Floors for they can choose any of 4 lifts to take. But, ha, ha, ha, all the rest living on the unlucky floors have NO lifts but must walk up or down. Note that there is absolutely NO cost savings in this stupid arrangement. It would have cost EXACTLY the same money to have say, 1 lift doing Even Floors, another Odd Floors, etc, or some such arrangement SO THAT EVERY FLOOR IS SERVED. The fact that there is 1 Central Lift there that goes to Floors 1; 6; 10; 14; shows that someone must have considered this. BUT TRUE TO CENTRAL PLANNING, THE PAP GOVT DOES WHAT IT THINKS BEST — “NEVER MIND WHAT THE PEOPLE THINK” [LIE KY] — AND HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO REGARD FOR THE USERS’ NEEDS OR INTERESTS AND THIS REMAINS TRUE TO THIS DAY].
10. Coming back to our ‘world-class’ Feeder System, how did the Feeder System come about? The system of Bus Interchanges was deemed to be critical in PROVIDING PASSENGER LOADS TO THE MRT! When the MRT was first built, some bus commuters preferred to take the buses because they were cheaper and sometimes even faster. So, in typical LIE KY PAP fashion, the Govt decided that they must be FORCED to take the MRT, in order for it to be profitable. SO THE SYSTEM OF FEEDER BUSES WERE REALLY TO “FEED” [OFFICIAL TERMS, "FEEDER", "FEED", etc] RELUCTANT BUS PASSENGERS INTO TAKING THE MORE EXPENSIVE MRT! [Note: all Bus Interchanges are also MRT stations]. Today, the MRT has expanded to become so convenient that it would be profitable even without such ‘forced feeding’ BUT THE DICTATORIAL NATURE OF THE REGIME MEANS THAT IT IS PAINSTAKINGLY SLOW TO RECOGNISE THIS, WHICH TO THIS DAY, IT HASN’T. Dictators never admit mistakes so never reverse them until forced to. Since LIE KY is an Absolute Dictator, nobody dares tell him he screwed up and so he never reverses policies until the examples of other countries force him to.
11. And because the long-suffering Singaporean commuters have been cowed into a totally uncomplaining, unthinking lot, fearful of even seeming to criticise the almighty PAP, with GodLEE powers and wisdom who cannot be wrong, and the PAP media did such a brilliant job of impressing on every impressionable mind that LIE can never be wrong, nor his Govt, and that Singapore is the epitome of efficiency, things could not even be questioned and therefore, could not be changed. And thus, the status quo.
12. The greed of the 2 Govt bus companies also kept the whole system stuck in the rut. Why change when you can — without objection except for some easily suppressed and censored or ignored, commuter grumbling — raise bus fares and MRT fares every year or so? [7 fare raises in 8 years]. The Govt regulator, like all Govt regulators regulating Govt companies, cannot and will not question any fare increases, since the top honchos in both regulator and regulatee are the same PAP men, all very cosily incestuous, known to each other and often moving from one body to the other, and of course, all drawing obscene pays for not thinking at all, let alone out of the box. Let the poor commuters suffer. Just “manage their expectations” [PAP MP].
13. LIE KY’s wife is also said to have huge shareholdings in 1 of the 2 Govt bus companies. So may others of the LIE famiLEE, their Cabinet and PAP cronies, including even top judges, who draw Ministerial-level salaries and are very much part of the Elite, plus all THEIR families. Thus, these Govt company cash cows are not to be trifled with, regulator or no. Just keep doing the same old thing. Just keep raising fares so that the Govt companies will continue to be very profitable, so that they return big dividends to the LIE KY wife and others, so that the share values keep rising so that LIE KY and others’ shareholdings keep increasing in capital gains, which will be very profitable should they sell off. This is true of all the GLCs. Why invest in other stocks or overseas when these are so uncertain? In Singapore, the PAP Govt can really CONTROL the profitability of the GLC monopolies and so, investing in these is a sure bet. A total no-brainer.
14. There is a term for this kind of no-risk investment. It’s called SCAM. Or even CORRUPTION. Or CHEATING the people. A cosy arrangement of the Govt companies commanding monopolies, having huge shares held by LIE KY and cronies, who are assured of no-risk dividends and capital appreciation, ABSOLUTELY NO RISK because these companies are not so much COMPANIES as SCAM STRUCTURES, that can keep raising fares and profits and fees and charges at will, regulator or no. THIS IS THE STORY OF SINGAPORE AND THE ABUSED SINGAPOREAN. For other scams, read Mr LEONG Sze Hian’s polite but excellent analyses of the CPF scam or some other bloggers’ postings on the HDB flat pricing and Healthcare scams, etc. Even the taxi companies [and their fare prices], also Govt companies, are part of all this ‘invisible hand of the central planner’. In short, almost every organisation or institution set up by LIE is a scam of some kind. LIE can be said to be operating a Govt TO ENRICH THEMSELVES THROUGH A MULTIPLICITY OF GOVT AND GOVT COMPANY MONOPOLIES.
And, as Machiavelli taught, whose lessons LIE KY and his Cronies have all learnt only too well, ‘the tightest control of a population is when the govt is kept rich while the people are kept poor’. So this deliberate impoverishment of the people, except for a small, necessary Elite, serves for an iron grip political control as well. Migrate? LIE KY had it all worked out. He boasted that over 80% of Singaporeans CANNOT migrate. [Although surveys prove that almost every young Singaporean WANTS to migrate!]. Thus, most are captives to his regime, whose longevity he ensures with crooked election procedures, harassment and bankruptcy of able opponents, and outright stuffing of ballot boxes when he loses, as in the 1997 Cheng San GRC ward of 5 Parliamentary seats. LIE has absolutely no scruples, remember? He cannot afford a single one because scruples require moral and ethical currency and he hasn’t any.
15. Thus, between PAP stupidity and PAP greed, the Singaporean commuter is truly screwed. He pays 4 bus fares in the F-I-I-F system when he should have paid just one. His bus trips take 2 hours when it should have been 30 min. He pays bus and MRT fares that rise almost every year, inexorably, without being able to complain or take an alternative. Since the 2 Govt bus companies also own the MRT system and they arrange it such that he really has no alternative but to pay and pay, every time the fares are raised. He has no choice. He has no alternative. [Every time an MRT route is established, all the bus services that could provide an alternative to the MRT are discontinued, so that the MRT would be profitable and have no bus competition. This is central planning at its best].
16. It would not be so bad if the above is just applicable to public transport. BUT IN EVERY SINGLE GOVT AND GOVT COMPANY SERVICE, THE SAME SCENARIO IS REPEATED. GOVT MONOPOLIES, WHETHER DIRECTLY BY THE GOVT OR BY GOVT COMPANIES, THE SAME THING REALLY, ENJOY COSY MONOPOLIES, DEVELOP STUPID POLICIES AND STUPID SYSTEMS, ALL WITH THEIR HANDS DEEP INTO EVERY SINGAPOREAN’s POCKET, TO LOOT AT WILL, THE SINGAPOREAN DISENFRANCHISED AND VOICELESS, A VICTIM WITHOUT ANY RECOURSE OR ALTERNATIVE, NUMBED BY PROPAGANDA INTO QUIESCENCE, ALLOWING THE LIE REGIME TO DO ANYTHING ANY WHICH WAY THEY LIKE. THIS IS THE REAL SINGAPORE STORY. A STORY LIE KUAN YEW WILL NEVER WRITE. BECAUSE HE IS TOO STUPID, ULTIMATELY, TO SEE ALL THESE GREAT OCEANS OF TRUTH WASHING UPON HIS ISLAND.
Daniel, yes indeed a strange term.
We are also quite possibly the only country where father, son, and daughter-in-law run the government and the government investment arms. I’m very sure in most democratic countries, having husband-and-wife running two key govt functions is considered conflict of interest.
but hey - we’re singapore right? we can be anything we want to be.
aygee,
it is really ironic that the world claim that Singapore has virtually no corruption by the world benchmark, little did the world realize know that corruption doesn’t need to exist underhand, it just need to perpetuate legally and lawfully with written and ambiguous law and policy that our million-dollars minister can hogwash easily through state MSM and enforcer.
Is conflict of interest a corruption ? Obviously it is when the whole state of affair is shrouded in mystery and inaccountability, and that citizen get increasingly oppressed even though the country is overwhelmingly rich and wealthy ! No one can scrutinize and cross examine the coffers. Uniquely Singapore ! Long live Singapore !
Time and time again, those money from ERP goes unaccountable and yet these ministers still show their similing face with their moronic reasons.
It look like it is a norm rather than exception to be oppressed by the coffers.
[...] are many of things wrong with this TOC article. The thought of tackling them all tires me, so let me do just one for now. Let us grant them the [...]
Why pay n pay when u can use our excellent cab service which is reasonably priced here? It is cheaper than owning a car, considering price of petrol,servicing,parking n etc. D plus point is u have a driver to cruise u around in comfort. Why not!
Why should we have a population as densed as HK’s? Singapore was never planned to take on a 6.5 million population from the outset. That was why we had spaced out homes, Even the MRT stations were not built to take on more carriages than is now. It was some people’s grand idea that the population should be increased by so much. And why should Singaporeans squeezed into shoe boxes like those in HK?
However, it is undeniable that HK has a good transport system, esepcially the mini buses. They provide a cheap and convenient service to the commuters.
erect ERP gantries ?? erect tombstone for these slave driver better.
You have only two hands. There are only so many beans you can hold with your two hands. More beans and it will spill.
You can never use your legs to hold beans. Law of nature.
Certain things just cannot be solved. You can only pretend to solve it - sooner or later, it will be seen through.
EC,
My point was not about increasing Singapore’s overall population. My point is that the planners in Singapore should have in mind that in order to provide better transport such as more direct bus routes and higher frequency of buses, you have to make sure that the estate has to have a certain population density. Let me illustrate the problem in Singapore. In other words, have a higher population concentration in housing estates.
Estate A has only 10,000 residents. This number simply could not justify having direct bus routes because of low ridership. Instead of direct bus routes going from Estate A to say the CBD, you will end up having buses having to go to Estate B and Estate C first before heading to the CBD so as to get more passengers.
However, if Estate A now has 40,000 residents (through building higher HDB blocks), then it justified more direct bus routes and higher frequency of buses. Buses serving Estate A would not have to detour to Estate B and C just to pick up more passengers before going to its destination.
This applies to other facilities such as malls, wet markets etc. Its the simple concept of economies to scale which explains why Hong Kong can put in place such a quality transport system. The higher population density means that low ridership would not exist to create problems like having ever detouring bus routes and long waiting time like in Singapore.
In Singapore, the problem is, to house say 20000 people, those guys at HDB plan Estate A to house 10,000 residents. Then they start building a new estate in another corner of the country, Estate B, to house the rest of the 10,000. This results in neither Estates having of economies of scale to justify direct and frequent bus services. This can be easily resolved if they had consolidate the 20,000 residents into only Estate A without having to build Estate B. And having stayed in Hong Kong before, i would say that is the problem with Singapore. In Hong Kong they can have direct bus services at 5-7 min interval most of the time because most of the buses carry a decent number of people even at off peak hours. Why? Because the estates they are serving have the high number of residents to justify that.
To put things simple, a bus serving between Pasir Ris and Shenton Way would not have to detour to Tampines or Bedok on its way to Shenton Way if Pasir Ris had a high population density such that the bus is almost full when it leaves Pasir Ris for Shenton Way. It can hit the highway straight without having to go to Tampines and Bedok. To do that, you gotta make sure Pasir Ris have a certain number of residents and households. In Hong Kong, just after the first five to six stops of a bus route, the bus is almost full at off peak hours. It normally hit the highway to places like Mongkok and Central straight without having to detour to other estates.
Even doing business is all about having the human flow. The same concept applies if we desire direct and frequent bus services. That has to start with proper population projection for each estate and town planning which obvious the people in HDB never give a thought about.
Without higher population density, you don’t have the economies of scale to do many things. You can’t have the cake and eat it. Higher population density to justify more convenient services or lower population density but having to take a bus just to go to the supermarket or having to wait 20min for bus? I rather choose the former. That’s why i missed Hong Kong even though i have a smaller living space.
How can anyone of you even think that our esteemed leaders lack foresight?
Our dear PM Lee had the foresight to marry the woman who would one day become one of the most powerful businesswomen in the world.
Our leaders definitely know what they are doing!! So stop complaining!
Facade is just that a facade. When Crunch time come, the true leader will stand up and deal with it instead of hiding in an ivory tower($$$ millions$$$).
ASK the right question, TALK with your friends and LEARN about alternatives.
PS the most successful business woman have lost a lot of investment but then what did you know about her?
Shin corpse perhaps or the recent “LONG TERM INVESTMENT” UBS, Citibanks, etc, etc
Fool rush in where Angels fear to thread.
“become one of the most powerful businesswomen in the world.”
Hojinx is indeed the most powerful women in the history of the world ! Repeatedly losing billions of our money and yet no one dare to ask her to f#$k off ! And with her utterly useless husband that even promote himself to BG and PM ? It makes all Singaporean look nothing but clown in the world. By the way, anyone want to guess how much Hojinx collect per month ?
Even WuZeTian lose out to Hojinx in term of wealth , power and greed !
Singapore should be proud of the WuZeTian of Singapore.
Stupid Weekend Car scheme.
Car Population is out of control because of weekend cars! You owned the car at a discount of $17K and most of them drove daringly even after 7 am at breakneck speed to their destinations. Talking about enforcement? You hardly spot a TP around 7-745am. After 7pm, there are many roads with congestion and if you look around closely mostly are weekend cars again. I dun understand why coffers have to subsidise a weekend car? The reason for COE is to limit car population and weekend cars just make them more affordable and increased in numbers. If you buy a cheap car with CNG (u get 40% OMV rebate) and is a weekend car (another $17K rebate), driving it 5 days a week for a month cost u $400 extra and car installment of est $500 and a petrol/cng bill of $250 = $1150, still worth it, therefore OPC cards do not help stop congestion during peak hours. Not only that for a cars below 1500CC you only pay peanuts for annual road tax ($50) and also enjoyed a lower insurance fees. All the benefits and incentives to buy weekend cars to join the congestions. A really stupid policy in the first place. Remove OPC and stop the car population growth before ERP is right at our carparks in the near future.
VANS are increasingly seen on the road as passenger carrier not goods
Also the Kangoo Type VANS have become not a goods carrier but a passenger car and it is cheaper to own and run. Look around you and you will find many vans not for goods but people transport. The new ruling even allow a comfy sofa to be put at the back to seat 2 or 3 passengers bolt down. Perfectly legal. Cheaper insurance and fixed road tax of $500 and low running cost on diesel. Such vehicles have become like toyotas on our roads, very common. Yet, these van drivers love to hog the middle lane eventhough they are obviously not overtaking slow moving lorries in the 3rd lane. These vans helps to slow traffic down in highways where speed limit is 80 or 90km/h at times you can even find them in first lane running at 80km/h. Getting a company to register a van for use as private transportation and not a goods carrier can be easily arranged. Therefore you dont need a company to own a VAN.
What is LTA thinking?What is their game plan? Is it only ERP they can think of? Look at the details you stupid LTA! Use your brain million dollars ministers and superscale civil servants. Have you guys play SIMCITY or transport tycoons during your school days?
FG
I think, it is high time they stop dancing around their ERP Totem Pole in solving traffic and or vehicle ownership issues. There are simply TOO MANY new drivers.
If the government REALLY wants to solve this problem, put a limit on the number of driving licenses issued. INCREASINGLY, more young people these days are driving to school, do you all noticed this? More serious accidents invloved young drivers. The system now has even made acquiring a driving license so much easier, by offering a driving course for automatic transmission cars. It is like while trying to put out a fire, they are also splashing kerosene into the fire as much as water..!
They keep increasing public transport fares, but claims it is cheaper for people to go public and give up their cars. What’s worse to come, is the government’s aim to increase population size to 6.5 million. Can you all imagine even if 50% of people gave up driving? I tell you, Singapore will take a few giant steps BACKWARDS and become like China a few decades ago - all on BICYCLES!
Perhaps, this matters will and can only be solved by a few more Ministerial Pay Hikes - to perhaps encourage thinking clearly and being less profiteering?
passerby
What do you think ? In the context of Singapore, is it densed or not densed enough either in general or even in each of the estate.
As time tolerance is getting edgy and more edgy in the future as result of a spillover from the need to compete, to be fast, to have the necessary scale as you have mentioned, to maintain ever increasing growth, certain things must naturally give way finally in any equation.
Space already scare here will even get more scare as everthing including economic growth can only grow this much given certain other inter-related variable constraints.
Real productive growth may not even exist but hidden in the discounting effect of inflation but presented as some positive dream (in strict numerial terms) to chase for. Yes, dream for some but also broken hopes (or collapse as this article intends) for a lot.
what to do? it has happened, so let’s put in more ERP and move on!
Hi; Fever Guy and C J
imho, it is definitely not right to put blame on OPC Owners and the Right to a driving licence by anyone who qualified for it.
As the reasons to road congestions are many and mainly due to poor public transport plannings and services, the Solutions must and should be centred on overcoming these lapses. Many in TOC might remember that there was an article written about Public Transportations and in that article, there were many valueable comments and the Writer himself had put in much efforts in researching the contents of his Article, yet, all that seemed not considered or maybe even unread by the relevant Authorities. Indeed, it was liked casting pearls before swines. Nevertheless, personally, I wish that blames cannot be put onto innocent parties, when their deeds arose from the mistakes of policies.
And should anyone only capable of suggesting fiscal/monetary measures to overcome any problems, do check if your solution(s) is any better than what our leaders have been dishing out all these while and that means fines, levies, tolls etc. Many of us in the Blogosphere are sensitive to the Fact that this tiny country has too much un-utilized monies, much of which are from money making schemes from national implementations. Maybe un-utilized is not the right description, but I cannot allude that the multi-million SIN Dollars Remunerations of our leaders are from those money making implementations. Neither can I link those multi billion dollars investments in those fizzling banks with said monies(from fines, levies etc), though I feel much of these monies are not used to benefit us, the People.
This post is not meant to be personal, I just wish that no blame goes to innocents and the uninvolved. Do correct me.
patriot.
Tan Kin Lian,
You said, “I hope that our government ministers and officials, and members of the Public Transport Council will show the example to the public transport and experience it first hand. ”
I say, don’t hold your breath. The day our ministers and members of PTC take public transport on a regular basis would be the day when the sun rises from the west!!!
Jackson Tan,
You are one of those that have been readin too much of The Straits Times. You even sound like its reporter.
The govt has gotten its priorities all wrong. They should be greatly improving public transport to the point where people actually PREFER to take them. Due to the fact that our policy makers don’t take public transport on a regular basis, they don’t have the slightest clue how overcrowded the tardy the system is. Look at HK and Tokyo. Commuters there don’t complain about having to take public transport. Why?? Because their public transport is really superb. I have lived in Tokyo and HK previously.
Did our govt think about how much more overcrowded the trains and buses would be when more commuters change to taking public transport with the incessant increase in ERP???
Read the extent of lies by the million-dollars minister
http://wpsn.wordpress.com/2008/03/07/st-20080307/
““That’s not the way we do things. You know that it’s a congestion measure and if there are indeed roads in there that are congested, ERP would have been effected.”
and contrast it to the following forum letter: Still think ERP is not money-spinner and it’s main purpose not generating money ?
=====================================================
Letter from Roy Chan
THE recent Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) revision has caught me by surprise. In particular, the extension of ERP on Saturdays into the Suntec City and Marina Square area is unnecessary and ill-timed.
Firstly, for the past three years, I have driven into the Marina area with my family every Saturday between noon to 6pm. Not once have we experienced traffic congestion. Even with the recent PC Show at Suntec City, which reportedly drew close to a million visitors, I did not face any problem with traffic, apart from the lack of parking space.
Secondly, the MRT Circle Line is not ready. Implementing ERP at this time leaves people with no choice, especially for those who find it difficult to get there by bus. My wife is pregnant and I have two young children, so taking buses or walking from City Hall MRT station is not an option. What more can we expect of old people and those with disabilities?
Thirdly, taxi charges have increased recently, as fuel prices have hit record highs and inflation is taking a toll on common folk. Why is there a need to charge ERP at a place and time where there have not been complaints of traffic congestion on Saturdays?
While we know that the Land Transport Authority (LTA) is trying its best to improve the public transport system, why can’t it wait until the MRT Circle Line is ready before implementing ERP in this area on Saturdays? Why can’t it wait until fuel prices drop, or until inflation decreases? My message to the LTA is: Please help those whom you are intending to serve, not add on to their already-heavy burden by taxing their pocket unnecessarily.
No problem of weekend congestion in Suntec City area, one reader says
Letter from Roy Chan
THE recent Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) revision has caught me by surprise. In particular, the extension of ERP on Saturdays into the Suntec City and Marina Square area is unnecessary and ill-timed.
Firstly, for the past three years, I have driven into the Marina area with my family every Saturday between noon to 6pm. Not once have we experienced traffic congestion. Even with the recent PC Show at Suntec City, which reportedly drew close to a million visitors, I did not face any problem with traffic, apart from the lack of parking space.
Secondly, the MRT Circle Line is not ready. Implementing ERP at this time leaves people with no choice, especially for those who find it difficult to get there by bus. My wife is pregnant and I have two young children, so taking buses or walking from City Hall MRT station is not an option. What more can we expect of old people and those with disabilities?
Thirdly, taxi charges have increased recently, as fuel prices have hit record highs and inflation is taking a toll on common folk. Why is there a need to charge ERP at a place and time where there have not been complaints of traffic congestion on Saturdays?
While we know that the Land Transport Authority (LTA) is trying its best to improve the public transport system, why can’t it wait until the MRT Circle Line is ready before implementing ERP in this area on Saturdays? Why can’t it wait until fuel prices drop, or until inflation decreases? My message to the LTA is: Please help those whom you are intending to serve, not add on to their already-heavy burden by taxing their pocket unnecessarily.
No problem of weekend congestion in Suntec City area, one reader says
Letter from Roy Chan
THE recent Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) revision has caught me by surprise. In particular, the extension of ERP on Saturdays into the Suntec City and Marina Square area is unnecessary and ill-timed.
Firstly, for the past three years, I have driven into the Marina area with my family every Saturday between noon to 6pm. Not once have we experienced traffic congestion. Even with the recent PC Show at Suntec City, which reportedly drew close to a million visitors, I did not face any problem with traffic, apart from the lack of parking space.
Secondly, the MRT Circle Line is not ready. Implementing ERP at this time leaves people with no choice, especially for those who find it difficult to get there by bus. My wife is pregnant and I have two young children, so taking buses or walking from City Hall MRT station is not an option. What more can we expect of old people and those with disabilities?
Thirdly, taxi charges have increased recently, as fuel prices have hit record highs and inflation is taking a toll on common folk. Why is there a need to charge ERP at a place and time where there have not been complaints of traffic congestion on Saturdays?
While we know that the Land Transport Authority (LTA) is trying its best to improve the public transport system, why can’t it wait until the MRT Circle Line is ready before implementing ERP in this area on Saturdays? Why can’t it wait until fuel prices drop, or until inflation decreases? My message to the LTA is: Please help those whom you are intending to serve, not add on to their already-heavy burden by taxing their pocket unnecessarily.
The letter taken from
http://www.todayonline.com/articles/260828.asp
I guess the gahmen needs more money now after putting our hard earned money in stupid investments and long-term commitments. Need to fill up the coffers!
Look at what GCT said about right ingredients and master chef. I think Singapore is the recipe for disasters. The way ST writes what GCT said is truly brainwashing to the MAX!
FG
patriot,
There can never be more roads to built with the limited land. Therefore owning a car is by all means not a basic need. I dun see why weekend cars should be encouraged and to be make popular. I dun see why goods carrier vehicle should be abused like a private car. They emit alot of pollutants and you can get a second hand kangoo for as little as 15k. The type of policy can actually help limit vehicle growth and using ERP is by no means a good way. We should look at what type of scheme and vehicles are causing the inbalance.
FG
They really put a lot of people of into unease. Why would you want to increase prices of public services when at the same time we have hundreds of billions in the reserves during this period of high inflation.
While imported inflation cannot be controlled, surely pricing of internal services (ERP in our case) which do not consume a single bit of imported product / services except the electricity used to run it can be controlled.
Is all about $$$$$$$$, the real motive is not congestion control is profit generation! After ERP, come sept public transport probably asking for fees hike due to high oil prices. Later you have empolyer CPF contibution reduction due to economy slowing down. All sorts of crap these gahmen can think of. Town council and parking fees might even go up before the year ended. Singapore Power will just pass more costs to consumer … did you guys receive a booklet on how to save electricity and water. Think harder and you will know that big increase in charges are coming their way. Educate the sheeps first before the slaughter comes.
Believe in Justice!
FG
RO,
“Tan Kin Lian,
You said, “I hope that our government ministers and officials, and members of the Public Transport Council will show the example to the public transport and experience it first hand. ”
I say, don’t hold your breath. The day our ministers and members of PTC take public transport on a regular basis would be the day when the sun rises from the west!!!”
I took public transport from young till i am 28. To me the greater changes recently are the overcrowded trains and buses. Poor frequencies and connected routes. If a VIP minister going to take a bus or train please do it secretly so that he/she can feel the real impact. No poiint having SMRT/SBS making everything cosy and nice for VIP to take the ride and conclude everything is fine. Stop fooling us, ministers! I think our million dollar ministers are taken for a ride by money grabbing corporations who treated them like babies. It is really important to have more compeitition in public transport sector. The gahmen should get its act together soon or face a rout in elections. I definitely vote for a gahmen who can better provide the people with a good transportation system that is affordable and efficient. Now it is a far cry!
FG
Fever Guy,
before all those hikes, you see MSM and the ministers as usual become overwhelming optimistic about the future that inflation will cease in a year time, and that everything back to normal ! Well, then after few days later, you also see the ministers talking very gloomily and asking us to tide the incoming weather !
Amazing coffers who do nothing but keep feeding damn f#$#$king lies in MSM.
Their tactics: It doesn’t matter if the end justify the means of getting $$$, and our conscience is clear because we always blame it on nation-building and economic growth !
Coffers’ tactic:
If you can’t convince the citizen, confuse them into submission and then quickly ‘move on’.
My additional comments. Yes, economically, you need ridership to justify to add, to improve and increase frequency of a route. Yes, majority of Us resides in HDB (86%?). Spare us the lecturing of the economic factors, educated or non-educated Singaporeans like me do know the math behind it. If you do not believe me, just ask any aunties or uncle in your constituencies doing their regular shopping chores. These are facts most of us are aware of and that we can never argue with, however, there are rooms for improvement.
I am a simple “senile” man. It is not too hard to fathom the transportation issue. ERP is not the primary route of the cause. I think you guys in the LTA have been thought the “KISS” principle in your university day right? Please put it to practice.
Here’s my plead to the LTA and the Ministry:
Organize a week long event and invite public living in Singapore, Hong Kong, Tokyo who frequently takes public transport. Open your mind frame and hear out the experience and suggestions for REAL improvements. Please be objective with think out of a box. It’s okay to admit for you guys to admit you are not perfect in planning. I think most of Us here in blogsphere or the common layman can accept that. However, if you do nothing that genuinely to the benefit of the public (in this case all living souls in Singapore). Stop your profiteering scheme. This is public infrastructure improvement not a corporate. You are doing the country a dis-service and if you are really responsible citizens, vacant your seat for other more able people. You would have been kicked out right away if you are now working in corporate. I for one am not afraid to admit I admire the “old man” LKY. I have a lot of respects and give a lot of credit for what he and his team had done for Singapore. Not forgetting us (the general public) in cooperating with his coercing policies ~ older generation folks like me knew we needed them during those early days to move the country along. So we bit the bullet and just accept it. Any feelings of hate? Yes, to be honest, but for the betterment of our future generation, we just have to take it in stride. But I am utterly disappointed to a point near repulsion with the younger lots. The old man is right. When he said Singaporeans are complacent, he is directing that comment to you people in position more than us the common citizens. We have no power whatsoever to change the policies and rules to better our country. You people in the parliament voted in by your supporting citizens are the keepers. You guys hold the key. I am sure you want to continue to keep it. If so, please “WAKE UP!” like you had experience in your early BMT days. 天亮了！该起床了。请记住，我们也是新加坡的一份子。
Meanwhile, have your planning team to re-work the frequency schedule of the MRT & Buses (oh please make sure we public know when we should be expecting the improvement of the schedule). Here’s my suggestion, make the frequency and waiting time shorter. The computer program handling the MRT can be change easily (otherwise you have not invested the public money wisely - Singapore got MRT running much later than Hong Kong if I am right).
@Observer
>>otherwise you have not invested the public money wisely - Singapore got MRT running much later than Hong Kong if I am right
>>
You are right on the spot. Singapore’s SMRT started operating in 1987 whereas Hong Kong’s MTR started operating in 1979. Yet you can tell that that MTR’s infrastructural improvements are much better than SMRT’s.
Also in Hong Kong, the bus companies and minibuses are the REAL competitors to the MTR because they are owned by different private corporations. In Singapore, SBS transit operates NEL and buses, enjoying total monpoloy especially in the Northeastern part of Singapore. I don’t have to elaborate more on SMRT who is also the second largest bus operator here.
Dear passerby,
Thank you for sharing the same sentiment. I am just trying to be constructively critical to the people running our LTA. This is my 9th year living and working in Hong Kong. But I am constantly in tune of what is happening in Singapore. Afterall, Singapore is still my home. I will be glad to unconditionally share my thoughts. Although there are other areas where SIngapore had done better than Hong Kong (housing is one although some might disagree).
My main point is our LTA and its ministry got to admit they have got rooms for improvement. As I mentioned, ERP is not the primary route cause of the problem. Have they got statistics on the percentage of ridership on public transportation? They do. Have they ever analyze these numbers to see whether further improvement are needed? I certainly hoipe so. But then when you look at what has been done the last 10 years ( I am not kidding when I say changes, literally zero). In my frequent home trips, the very thing that I always get annoyed is our public transportation. I do not drive, public transport is the only mean I have got to get around. A lot of agonizing taxis rides and I just could not bear to take the MRT. Why? I cannot never get to my desire destination without having to change multiple tranportation mean. What I suspected (purely speculation with no ill contempt) is that they knew it but how to do it without profiteering. The same argument goes IF that is what is in their mind, this is a government run facility. The common users are we “ordinary citizens” who had help contributed to our country’s well being. Please spare a thought for us. The other possible assumption is they are just plain complacent. Like the expression “It ain’t broken, why fix it”. They need to think out of the box and start exploring outside of their cocoon. The world is changing, very RAPIDLY indeed. The government kept on their local corporate preaching, think globalization. I think they need to take a hint on HSBC advertisement. “We are your Global Local Bank”. Think Global Act Local. There are areas where swift action can be called for such as our public transportation system. You do not need to be a rocket scientist to figure this out. The LTA and its ministry are elite people with intelligence choosen to run its operation. If you cannot figure out a way, please organize a tour outside of Singapore and look at how other countries are making it work (just like what China had done). The same applies to Hong Kong on their Governor official visit to Singapore to explore and garner ideas for improvement. Please, LTA and its ministry. Listen to your people. We are not FANATICS.
I bet you one hundred percentage that the system will be better run if it is wholly privatize. The government still plays a role though, not by inteferring with the operations but ensure that good governance practice such as mediating the price hike. That is exactly what the Hong Kong government did. Is this copying?yes you can say that, but what’s wrong copying if it really work?
Hey observer
“I bet you one hundred percentage that the system will be better run if it is wholly privatize.”
We have the same notion of privatization i think, which means solely in private hands and facing real market competition so that transport companies have to improve constantly in terms of prices and services to stay in business.
However, if you tell the Singapore Government that, they would prolly say: Look, SBS transit and SMRT are “privatised” too and they compete (a faulty logic which we all know). The Public Transport Council, an independent (even though i can’t see how independent it is) body regulates them. When people twist meanings to suit their needs, you can never engage them. I, for one, has totally gave up on “engagement” with the bureaucracy long time ago.
@passerby,
I am aware of this as well. But I think we should not give up hope just yet. Some people just need more time to adjust their mindset. Yes, they are bureaucratic (likewise elsewhere). Complacency will get them no where and I certainly hope this will not becomes a propaganda come election time. The change can be adopted now (well) give and take 3 months of adjustment period. This is more than enough to start working on the schedule.
The ballot box is always the best test. Citizens sharing the same sentiment will vote and cast wisely with my generation of people diminishing. Honestly, it does not really affect me, but I will support a vote for change if it gets out of hand. Regardless of party, I think all our citizens would like to vote for someone that genuinely cares for its citizen. We need to convince our surrounding colleagues, friends, nok, and so on, keep on the effect if we are to see change. May be I am naive in thinking, but I always had that believe, perserverance will pay of someday. No denial, it is a long road, but hey, it will happen. May not be the next election, but another decade from now? I think it is possible if we keep up the effort.
I think the govt is doing the right thing. You want a car, we give your more COEs to allow you to own a car. BUT you mus