Let's talk about how to raise the cost of car ownership, and at the same time raise public transport fares, AND how to make the public swallow the bitter pill.
Impossible in other countries? Not in Singapore - adidas' famous (or infamous) slogan applies - impossible...... is nothing.
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The ERP (Electronic Road Pricing) system is an ingenious idea. Whoever came up with this idea should have the Nobel Prize (Economics).
I mean, seriously. Why have toll booths? Why pay people to collect money, when you can have it automated? When the system is faulty, there is no trouble for the government at all - the onus is on the driver to prove so.
Cheap to build, and the gantry can be up in days (probably 1 month or less if you throw in software configuration testing etc.) Next, you can start charging motorists based on a whim and fancy - "oh, traffic speeds are below 45kmh." And wait, motorists only need to be given a week's notice.
No alternative routes need to be suggested, Singaporean drivers don't need nannies to teach them how to drive, yeah? They can always use the numerous sites on the Internet to tell them how to plan their routes, and there's even one which will tell u how much your intended route costs (only ERP of course, petrol not included).
The government's rebuttals are getting tired of late. "Speeds are falling, we have to arrest the trend, before it rapidly degenerates and investors get put off into ploughing money in Singapore Inc."
Fear Factor, anyone?
It conveniently forgets the investors and its citizens ALREADY in Singapore who find the escalating costs going out of hand, or does the SG government do a calculated risk that Singaporeans are just too settled in to move out of this tiny island? Even if so, what about the existing investors/ foreign talent etc?
And the latest news, taxi drivers are finding it expensive to drive into the CBD because of ERP, so many will choose to stay away. So now commuters who need a cab in the CBD need to call for one! What next?
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The next bone I have to pick is the rising public transport fares. The government recently announced a change in the public transport fare structure that would be distance-based, rather than depending on how many times u switch buses/trains. That is reason to cheer, until you read on and realize that it is actually a facade for something more scheming - to raise fares for 6 out of 10 people who actually have direct buses from source to destination. What's more, transport companies are encouraged to scrap direct routes because they are "less efficient".
FARE HIKE, then no more direct routes? What in the world is the government thinking? When u factor in a journey's time, please also factor in waiting time. It is NOT fair at all to just compare travelling time, (because if you didn't already know!!!) waiting time can take up a significant portion of the total time u take to get from place to place! I wonder just how far removed our ministers are from the ground. Seriously!
Ministers and top management of LTA, please take the public transport at least once a week. The condition here is, you are not allowed to inform the bus companies when you want to take it. You are also not allowed to tell them where you are taking it from, or where you are going to. In brief, you should act as the man on the street for a day a week, so you can feel our pain.
If the government wants to encourage people to use public transport, then for heaven's sake, please improve the regularity, particularly during peak hours! Reasons like existing infrastructure not being able to support more regular train schedules are NOT acceptable. If the people at the top can for one moment stop running the country like a company, they might even have the heart and clarity to see the common man's problems. Or is it too cloudy on top to see the ground below? Or maybe, just maybe, they choose to assume these problems don't exist. After all, it's easy to do that when you have a nice comfy car and a motorcade to whisk you around wherever you need to go. And ERP is paid for by the government!
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High fliers, time to lower yr cruising level. Lower yourselves for one moment, live and breathe the shit we're facing now for some time, before you go back up to your perch and "continue looking at the big picture".
2 comments:
Yes. Don't drive. Don't take public transport. Walk all the way for a healthy living.
you think they bother? with a pay hike of 100%, what is an increase of ERP fees mean? 1% of their pay or less? What does increase in fuel means? another 1% of their pay?
furthermore, don't forget that some mentor of ours stated that you can get to any place in singapore in 20 mins. i have driven around singapore on "good days" and have never been able to get from boon lay to changi in 20 min or even marina to woodlands. but then again, i don't have a motorcade that allows me to have a direct access to where i want to go, not having to wait at traffic lights.
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