SMRT

[Swinger]

I remember vividly the pleasant free-flowing driving experience 20 yrs ago. Then came COE, a system that supposedly could accurately control the growth of vehicles population and hence keep our roads congestion free. Singaporeans were very much aware of the terrible gridlock that could befall Spore seen in places like KL and Bangkok if nothing was done and COE was accepted as the necessary evil.

Fast forward to today, and after innumerable tweakings and several transport ministers we still ended up like KL and Bangkok or worse. Because everyone is trying to avoid getting stuck, traffic start to snarls as early as 7 am and 5 pm. In fact driving in KL is so much more pleasant today with so many new roads and expressways so long as you to pay the toll.

The recent announcement is yet again another tweak like those in the past. They can is being kicked further down the road.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

Fast forward to today, and after innumerable tweakings and several transport ministers we still ended up like KL and Bangkok or worse. Because everyone is trying to avoid getting stuck, traffic start to snarls as early as 7 am and 5 pm. In fact driving in KL is so much more pleasant today with so many new roads and expressways so long as you to pay the toll.

My experience showed different picture. KL traffic is much worse, comparing with CTE traffic, during peak hour.

I didn't visit Bangkok, but base on news report, it should be much worse, especially so during peak hour.

I'm not sure how familiar you're with KL/Selangor but I have spent many years in Klang Valley (and still drive there regularly). I used to curse the road condition in KL and full of praise for Singapore roads. In the last 15 years the whole of Klang Valley is completely transformed. I'm not saying KL traffic congestion is better but if you're familiar you can bypass most the city centre now with the major expressway such as NKVE, KESAS, Shah Alam Expressway (SAE), New Pantai Expressway (NPE), Kuala Lumpur Middle Ring Road 2 (MRR2), etc. The journey is longer but driving is much more pleasurable and there are many alternative routes available.

My point is that the COE has obviously not fulfilled its intended objective as a means to control vehicles population growth. Every few years fine tunings were done and yet the COE prices continue to gyrate wildly from 10k to 100k easily outperforming the STI index in volatility while at the same time the congestion is getting worse. It is not difficult to establish how many cars can be safely added without clogging the roads each year. So, did Singapore transport planners got their calculation wrong? Not likely, it seems the government is flip flopping between two opposing objectives - reducing congestion vs increasing revenue.

[CityFarmer]

I share the following article on public transport of Singapore.

I like the following paragraph the most

The former mayor of Colombian capital Bogota, Mr Enrique Penalosa, put it very well when he said: "A developed country is not a place where the poor have cars. It's where the rich use public transportation."

Fewer cars, fewer roads

A few weeks ago, on Aug 28, we celebrated the 50th anniversary of the famous speech given by Martin Luther King Jr entitled "I have a dream". He said: "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the colour of their skin but by the content of their character."

The goal of his speech was to open the roads to advancement for his fellow black citizens. I too have a dream for my fellow Singaporeans. However, while the goal of his speech was to open the roads to advancement, my goal is to close the roads to advancement for my fellow citizens. The only difference between him and me is that while he was speaking metaphorically, I am speaking literally. We do not need many more physical roads or much more physical road space in Singapore.

One undeniable hard truth of Singapore is that we live in one of the smallest countries in the world. This is also why we have one of the most expensive land costs in the entire world. Apart from Monaco, no other United Nations member state has land as expensive as Singapore has per square foot. Hence, we should value every square foot. Every square foot we give up to road space is a square foot taken away from other valuable uses: pedestrian walkways, bike paths, green parks and so on.

To be fair to our road planners, they are caught in a bind because Singapore is continuing to grow its population of cars. If we expand the number of cars, we have no choice but to expand the amount of roads to carry more cars. So the real solution is to reduce the demand for more cars in Singapore. How do we do this?

The problem here is that a car remains an essential part of the Singapore dream. Yet, if every Singaporean achieves his or her dream, we will get a national nightmare. To prevent this national nightmare from happening, we have created harsh policies to raise prices and reduce the demand for cars.

Status symbols

Paradoxically, the high prices of cars have made them even more desirable as status symbols. This is why luxury brands trump cheap brands in Singapore sales. If the desirability of cars keeps rising, our efforts to curtail car ownership will be as successful as a dog chasing its tail.

So what is the alternative solution? The solution is obvious: Change the Singapore dream!

Yes, almost every Singaporean reading this article will laugh out loud at this suggestion. How can any well-off Singaporean deprive himself of a car? It serves as the most reliable form of transportation as well as a powerful status symbol. The minute you own a car, especially a Mercedes-Benz, BMW or Lexus, your friends know that you have arrived.

But for 10 years of my life, I have actually lived on another even more crowded tiny island where it is not rational to own a car. In fact, it is considered downright stupid to buy and own a car if you live in Manhattan. All this came home clearly to me one evening in Manhattan when I saw the former chairman of Citibank, Mr Walter Wriston, and his wife Kathryn standing on First Avenue with their arms raised and trying to hail a cab.

Clearly, Mr Wriston was then one of the richest men on our planet. He could have easily bought a car in Manhattan. Yet, it just did not make sense.

The eco-system of public transport that Manhattan had created with a combination of subway trains, public buses and readily accessible taxis meant that in a crunch you could get anywhere in Manhattan using public transport.

More significantly, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, another clearly very rich man, used to take a subway train to work in Manhattan.

The former mayor of Colombian capital Bogota, Mr Enrique Penalosa, put it very well when he said: "A developed country is not a place where the poor have cars. It's where the rich use public transportation."

I have been to Bogota. When I visited it in 1992, the city was so unsafe that I was given a private bodyguard to walk down its equivalent of Orchard Road. Mr Penalosa transformed the city so much that Latino Fox News described him as "one of the world's pre- eminent minds on making modern cities more liveable."

Mr Penalosa is quoted as saying: "When we talk about car-free cities, we're not talking about some hippie dream. Not only do they exist, but they also are the most successful cities on the planet. The ones where the real estate is the most valuable, the ones that attract most tourists, the most investment, the ones that generate the most creative industries."

There was a time when Singapore's experiments in improving its urban environment would get global attention. Today, it is a man like Mr Penalosa, with bigger dreams than our dreams, who is described by Latino Fox News as a man whose "work and ideas have gained him international attention and a loyal fan base that includes New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg".

Mr Paul Steely White, executive director of New York City's Transportation Alternatives, has also said about New York City that "the way the streets of the greatest city in the world are being used is changing fundamentally… People are beginning to understand that it's entirely possible and really very desirable to lead a life without being tethered to an automobile".

We therefore have to replace the Singapore dream with the Manhattan or Bogota dream.

We have to give up this insane dream of owning a car and replace it with an ecosystem of a public transport system that makes it irrational to own a car.

Singapore's failure

And this is probably one of Singapore's biggest failures in its first 50 years: We have failed to develop a world-class ecosystem of public transport. We do have a good public transport network, but this has not kept pace with the population's expectations, which include a more reliable MRT system with fewer breakdowns, predictable bus services, taxis available in thundery showers, and pools of electric cars for ready rental.

So why did we fail? The answers must be complex. But one fundamental error could be simple. We expected every artery of this ecosystem to be financially viable. The disastrous result of looking at each artery and not looking at the ecosystem as a whole is that while each artery made sense in isolation, the combination did not result in a good ecosystem. Even more dangerously, by looking at each unit in isolation, we did not consider its impact on the island or the nation as a whole.

Let me give a specific example from the area of expanding road space. Many Singaporeans of my generation are still puzzled that the road planners of Singapore destroyed our precious National Library on Stamford Road to build a little tunnel under Fort Canning to save two minutes of driving time. The road planners who designed this tunnel had no idea that they were effectively shooting a bullet through the soul of Singapore by destroying the National Library.

This is why we have to be fair to our road planners. The only key performance indicator (KPI) given to them is to make traffic flow smoothly. With this KPI, it is logical to build more roads or expand road space. Hence, it was perfectly natural for our road planners to announce recently that Clementi Road and the Pan-Island Expressway would be expanded. I am sure many motorists who use that stretch of road daily will approve. But when do we say that enough is enough?

This is why we need a new dream. Does this mean Singaporeans will stop driving cars?

Absolutely not. My dream is to walk out of my house, use a smart card to pick up an electric car on rent and drive it anywhere I want to. We can replace car ownership with car pools. In fact, other cities have begun trying this. In Vauban, a suburb of Freiburg, Germany, 70 per cent of residents choose to live without private cars due to excellent city planning and a car sharing system. Before you scoff at electric cars, let me tell you that electric cars have faster torque than petrol-driven cars.

In short, we can have an alternative dream for Singapore. Let us dream of an island with fewer cars and fewer roads. It will be closer to being paradise on earth.

stopinion@sph.com.sg

The writer is dean of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore.

http://www.straitstimes.com/breaking-new...e-20130914

[specuvestor]

An academic that made sense

"So why did we fail? The answers must be complex. But one fundamental error could be simple. We expected every artery of this ecosystem to be financially viable. The disastrous result of looking at each artery and not looking at the ecosystem as a whole is that while each artery made sense in isolation, the combination did not result in a good ecosystem. Even more dangerously, by looking at each unit in isolation, we did not consider its impact on the island or the nation as a whole."

[countonme]

This is a playground for the rich. Service sector w boom so that more be serving the well-off. I am looking at good service sector stocks now.

[Temperament]

"So why did we fail?

Unquote:
To make it as simple as possible, we fail because "PAP" always means "PAY & PAY"
Nothing has changed all these 50 to 60 years. Nothing much is going to change if we are still all the way "PAP". IMHO.

[yeokiwi]

An academic that made sense

"So why did we fail? The answers must be complex. But one fundamental error could be simple. We expected every artery of this ecosystem to be financially viable. The disastrous result of looking at each artery and not looking at the ecosystem as a whole is that while each artery made sense in isolation, the combination did not result in a good ecosystem. Even more dangerously, by looking at each unit in isolation, we did not consider its impact on the island or the nation as a whole."

I thought it was the other way. They looked at the transport system as a whole and optimized the system with minimal drain on the country resources.

The bus routes that ran parallel to MRT lines were cut.
The Bus companies were allocated routes that are profitable and non-profitable to balance their return on bus services. So, although the bus fares remained the same throughout the island, people were frustrated at the long waiting time in non popular routes.
Taxis were intentionally taken over by companies. WHY??? Why can't taxi driver own the taxi? Because of Quality of Service??

[specuvestor]

The problem is the focus on the financials of the parts rather than the benefits to the entire ecosystem, which may not even be directly financial. For example less time wastage, less frustration, better family life, better quality of life, etc

The financial KPI measure, as with many who has been misled in terms of public policy, is that public goods have to be profitable. That leads to undermaintenance of MRT lines, lower service quality of buses, etc. We probably could have a cheaper and more efficient army with hired gurkhas, but does that makes sense even though financially it is positive?

We have to consider socioeconomical impact rather than just economical impact. The problem with 7m population is that the main driver is economical. Capitalism is constantly being touted as efficient, but people forget that it might not be effective. We have to choose and use the tools wisely in order not to knock the wrong "nails" with our hammer.

[camelking]

How to encourage people not to own cars when the whole society is built using material success as a driving force?
Even our public service is sustained NOT by passion but by high remuneration.
No, don't get me wrong...i understand that passion alone is insufficient to ensure efficient and low level of corruption.

Of course, the nation builders will point to our limited resources and tell us material success is the only recipe for our continual survival which i kind of agree.....so, in a material society like us, people like to buy cars....

time to sleep..haha

[Big Toe]

The MRT used to be a great way to get around. Not any more.
Looking ahead, I don't see how we can have a very effective transport system.
There is just too many people.

Instead of looking at what we cannot change, look at what we can change.
Personally, I am looking to locate myself closer to my work place or try to bring my work place closer to home.
Or better still, combine the 2. Transportation will be a big issue, I don't expect any significant improvement.
There is a further push to make work/home nearer as COE/car prices escalate to insane levels.

Relocation involves money, lots of it, if options run out and things don't work out, I may go as far as to work in another country.
The option of working elsewhere is not as daunting as some people make it out to be. Just have to adapt.

[Dividend Warrior]

How to encourage people not to own cars when the whole society is built using material success as a driving force?
Even our public service is sustained NOT by passion but by high remuneration.
No, don't get me wrong...i understand that passion alone is insufficient to ensure efficient and low level of corruption.

Of course, the nation builders will point to our limited resources and tell us material success is the only recipe for our continual survival which i kind of agree.....so, in a material society like us, people like to buy cars....

time to sleep..haha

True. "Car" is one of the 5Cs many Singaporeans are striving towards, especially men.