Public Transport System Comprehensive Review
The Land Transport Authority intends to up the trips made on public transport from 63% to 70% over the next 10-15 years.
Do we really need to spend on a comprehensive review to know what the problems are? The frequency of the bus services is poor and the rationalisation of services to avoid duplication with MRT routes has resulted in people having to pay extra and make multiple transfers in order to get to their destinations. Short distances take far too long to cover, a distance that takes 30mins by car can take 1.5 hours by our affordable public transport.
Take a cab instead of driving! But our cab fares have risen significantly and I pay $20 per trip going to work in the morning. Assuming I take the cab to and fro work everyday, $20 X 2 ways X 5 days X 4 weeks implies I am spending $800. For slightly more than $800 a month, it is today possible to get a small car and you get the additional sense of ownership and convenience. Gone are the days of waiting to flag down a cab and realising they are all missing when you most need it.
High level committees are useless in solving these issues. How often do the policy makers take the public transport? Those who do not use the public transport on a daily basis will not understand the pains of public transport commuters.
The outcome of this review is inadvertently raising ERP and other taxes to make car ownership more expensive to force people to use public transport instead. It is time to truly consider opening up the transport system for more competition on a even playing field. Telcos and ISPs are perfect examples of price competitiveness and service improvements when competition was introduced.
Do we really need to spend on a comprehensive review to know what the problems are? The frequency of the bus services is poor and the rationalisation of services to avoid duplication with MRT routes has resulted in people having to pay extra and make multiple transfers in order to get to their destinations. Short distances take far too long to cover, a distance that takes 30mins by car can take 1.5 hours by our affordable public transport.
Take a cab instead of driving! But our cab fares have risen significantly and I pay $20 per trip going to work in the morning. Assuming I take the cab to and fro work everyday, $20 X 2 ways X 5 days X 4 weeks implies I am spending $800. For slightly more than $800 a month, it is today possible to get a small car and you get the additional sense of ownership and convenience. Gone are the days of waiting to flag down a cab and realising they are all missing when you most need it.
High level committees are useless in solving these issues. How often do the policy makers take the public transport? Those who do not use the public transport on a daily basis will not understand the pains of public transport commuters.
The outcome of this review is inadvertently raising ERP and other taxes to make car ownership more expensive to force people to use public transport instead. It is time to truly consider opening up the transport system for more competition on a even playing field. Telcos and ISPs are perfect examples of price competitiveness and service improvements when competition was introduced.
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