LET us look at our transport situation from a commuter's point of view ("Zero car growth 'likely in future'"; March 12).
If a person wishes to travel from the east of Singapore to the middle, travel time is about 20 minutes by car, about 40 minutes by direct train and about an hour by direct bus.
Using a private car, a commuter can save at least 20 minutes. The time saved adds up if the commuter makes more trips, perhaps for work purposes.
In a competitive business environment, it is necessary to have a private vehicle. However, a decrease in car population is desirable and, indeed, possible.
The way to break this conundrum is to focus on providing faster transit with a higher degree of service reliability and comfort. The surge of taxi apps has amply demonstrated this.
A quick fix would be to increase the number of taxis on the road, and not just increase the mileage of the current fleet.
But, to make taxis a realistic and viable alternative to private cars, the availability issue must be overcome.
No car owner would be convinced to give up his vehicle if he cannot get a taxi on a rainy day or if a long wait is de rigueur.
With a little political will, we can increase the number of taxi licences and reduce, if not completely remove, Electronic Road Pricing and certificate of entitlement charges for all vehicles in public service.
Being productive will, hence, give taxi drivers better earnings. Costs to users will also be reduced.
We can also explore taxi pooling and advance no-cancellation pre-paid booking.
Obviously, in the longer term, the bulk of the public transport load should be carried by the trains, with buses complementing the service.
Technology can also offer more options. Instead of resisting change, we should use technology to improve our quality of living and improve our commute with less environmental impact.
Commuters will always search for means to improve their commuting time. But does this mean that we should be forever bound to unending car growth?
Ho Tay Cheok
If a person wishes to travel from the east of Singapore to the middle, travel time is about 20 minutes by car, about 40 minutes by direct train and about an hour by direct bus.
Using a private car, a commuter can save at least 20 minutes. The time saved adds up if the commuter makes more trips, perhaps for work purposes.
In a competitive business environment, it is necessary to have a private vehicle. However, a decrease in car population is desirable and, indeed, possible.
The way to break this conundrum is to focus on providing faster transit with a higher degree of service reliability and comfort. The surge of taxi apps has amply demonstrated this.
A quick fix would be to increase the number of taxis on the road, and not just increase the mileage of the current fleet.
But, to make taxis a realistic and viable alternative to private cars, the availability issue must be overcome.
No car owner would be convinced to give up his vehicle if he cannot get a taxi on a rainy day or if a long wait is de rigueur.
With a little political will, we can increase the number of taxi licences and reduce, if not completely remove, Electronic Road Pricing and certificate of entitlement charges for all vehicles in public service.
Being productive will, hence, give taxi drivers better earnings. Costs to users will also be reduced.
We can also explore taxi pooling and advance no-cancellation pre-paid booking.
Obviously, in the longer term, the bulk of the public transport load should be carried by the trains, with buses complementing the service.
Technology can also offer more options. Instead of resisting change, we should use technology to improve our quality of living and improve our commute with less environmental impact.
Commuters will always search for means to improve their commuting time. But does this mean that we should be forever bound to unending car growth?
Ho Tay Cheok
