Tan Kin Lian's Blog: Cars in Singapore

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Cars in Singapore

COE prices have gone up due to the cut in quotas. Many people, especially those with children, said that they need a car due to the poor transport system, e.g. overcrowded trains and unreliable bus schedules. Allowing more cars to be owned will not solve the problem, as our roads are too congested and there are insufficient parking spaces in the offices and residential estates.

In brief, we have a bad transport system in Singapore. Our hope is that in 5 to 10 years time, when more MRT lines are opened, it will be better. Meanwhile, the construction of the MRT lines add to the congestion and pain. We have to be prepared to suffer many more years, due to the bad planning during the recent 15 years.

There is something that can be done urgently to improve the situation. We need the Land Transport Authority and the two Transport Ministers to be willing to listen. They only need to look to Hong Kong and find out why their transport system is so much better than Singapore. Hong Kong has light buses to bring people conveniently to the train stations and an efficient taxi system (compared to the terrible de-regulated system in Singapore). Many people said that the Hong Kong system is convenient and inexpensive, compared to Singapore.

Tan Kin Lian

8 comments:

bong bong said...: The root cause, one party one govt too long in power breed complacency.

PAP who is self serving no longer interested in listening to any feedback.

Compounding by selfish and bad policy in bringing in uncontrolled foreign population at the expense of Singaporeans. The infrastructure just can't cope.

It has created a lot of hardship for its people. Look at recent inflation numbers, housing shortage, poor transport and unemployment for Singaporeans...; December 29, 2010 9:17 AM
michael13 said...: Hongkong is a good example for Singapore to learn from not only its transportation system is convenient and inexpensive but also in another area which impress me a lot. In Honkong, it is much easier for the aged and the handicap to move around(public places provided with both escalators and lifts).

Two days ago, my Malaysian friends who are both at the age of 81 years old, they found it difficult to go down the steep staircase at our Raffles City's MRT station (underground link-crossing at Collyer Quay). There is NO downward escalator and lift nearby.

In order to achieve that kind of standards that Hongkong is proud of. We need to be opened and to learn to listen more. More importantly, the authority-concerned should NOT be too defensive when being criticised.

It is still a long way for Singapore. Our government must take heed of the people's feedback seriously. To be less arrogant and it really helps to change things.

Singapore can only survive and prosper when the strong bond between the government and the people continue - my humble opinion as a heartlander.; December 29, 2010 9:21 AM
look4kc said...: Dear Mr Tan, I fully agree with you on the poor state of transportation system here as compared to HK which they never claim themself to be 1st world yet have many more area that beat SG flat.

HK government looks after the interest of her people and not those of big corporation.

We should have a new management to look after the interest of SG stakeholders not shareholders.

Let those who are looking after the interest of shareholders be in the private sectors and be paid millions if they are capable.; December 29, 2010 11:29 AM
patrol said...: i agree. Having stayed in Shanghai for a few years where the public transport is horrible and so i usually avoid and now in HK where i am totally dependent on public transport. Personally i feel that Sg can learn . the reasons why Sg did not implement could be due to the following reasons:

1. Sg is not as dense as HK and hence not profitable for transportation companies that are providing the service.
2. Planning for MRT 20+ years ago did not anticipate the current population size. The platform are not wide enough and i read of the Jurong MRT overcrowding incidents.
3. The queuing culture and standing on the right side of the escalator makes taking buses and train more efficient and less disorderly compared to Sg. Thanks partly also to Tan Kok Tim who has persevered and sent countless suggestions over the years to Sg govt, now SMRT also introduced the same system.
4. Weather plays a part too, i will perspire like mad just walking 10 min in Sg to a MRT but in HK it is fine plus there are more entrances to the stations.

Pat; December 29, 2010 12:12 PM
Jamesneo said...: Our whole public transport urgently needed to be enhanced if we do not want to be overwhelmed by any oil shocks in the coming decade. We urgently need to setup the electric network so that electric vehicles like buses and cars can quickly tap into without overwhelming the electric gird. The PRT that Mr Tan was talking about earlier in the year would be a great complement to the MRT and buses today as they can be run efficiently on electricity and rely less on oil or gas.; December 29, 2010 2:26 PM
NIZHEMOSHOU said...: Agree with u about HK system. For Spore, how can the system be better when:
-profiteering and not public convenience is uppermost in mind;
-the transport companies are allowed to keep increasing fares even when they are making huge profits every year;
-direct bus that commuters used to get to their destinations without having to change buses or bus to MRT have all been taken away resulting in commuters not only inconvenienced but also have to pay more for the same journey?

So dont count on it that more MRT lines mean less woes for commuters. Jus like motorists find more expressways means more ERPs for them to pay. With greedy people in charge, congestion is money to them. So, fat chance they would seriously want to implement HK system or any good system that will effectively solve and get rid of congestion; December 29, 2010 4:42 PM
Anonymous said...: The taxi system is the best in asia-pacific region. I see there is little much the government can do to make it better. The taxi rental has reached its peak affecting taxi driver income. With increase in diesel cost the take-home pay of taxi drivers will be reduced furthur. When more MRT lines are completed the taxi drivers income will be reduced furthur. I see a groomy future for the taxi drivers.; December 29, 2010 6:30 PM
Vincent Sear said...: I don't think Singapore's public transport system is perfect but neither do I think it's that bad.

I've taken public transport all my life, in Singapore and abroad. I'd rate Singapore system a 6/10 relative to, say, HK at 7/10.

There's not much overcrowding on buses anymore after more and more MRT lines and stations are built. However, that did cause the withdrawal of many bus lines.

In turn, that cultivates more reliance on MRT and most complaints of overcrowding come from MRT passengers. If compared to other major city transit systems, I see Singapore as the most concentrically built-up and comprehensive other than Tokyo.

Where I live, I'm surrounded by three stations within feeder distance with a new station coming up within walking distance.

Nominally, Singapore's MRT system should be one of the densest in the world even if compared to London or New York in terms of stations per sq.km. coverage.

The overcrowding and apparent undercapacity is due to relative overpopulation. London and NY may each have twice the population of Singapore but only a low percentage of them rely on public transport as a matter of necessity. In London and NY, when buying a home, nobody asks whether is it near to a station. In Singapore, everybody asks that.

If the cost of car ownerhip is reduced, then there'd be the traffic jam problems like in Bangkok and KL. And both the Bangkok and KL MRT systems are just a couple of lines slightly bigger than LRTs, nowhere compared to the scale and coverage of the network in Singapore.

Singapore has to deal with the practical land area constraints. Otherwise, whether housing and transport, everybody would suffer. The ratio between local population and foreign workforce has to be better managed than simply going for as high GDP as possible.; January 01, 2011 4:12 PM