Traffic Woes..
In response to Minister of Transport's plea for Singaporeans to take public transport rather than drive, many Singaporeans have taken this opportunity to write in to the Forum to complain about Singapore's public transport system. Singaporeans just love whinning. Their common complaints? Long waiting times for buses, irregular timing for buses, squeezy trains and buses etc. Their suggestion? Emulate Switzerland's transport system.
In my opinion, our transport system is close to being top-notch. Those whiners obviously haven't stepped out of this little dot to experience the public transport outside Singapore. With the peanuts they are paying for public transport fares, what do they expect to get in return? Yes, public transport fares are rising over the years, but it is still low compared to other countries.
Anyway, even if Singapore does have a world class transport system, does it really mean that they would choose public transport over the car? I reckon not. Here are my reasons why the car wins hands down.
1) Comfort. Maximum number of people in a normal car? 5. Bus? I don't know. Probably 50-100 for a double-decker bus. MRT? Hundreds or even thousand. And the most annoying part of public transport: The person standing or sitting next to you might just be a stinko who keeps picking his nose or a psycho who keeps staring at you.
2) Privacy. With strangers surrounding you in the MRT or bus, conversations with your friend(s) are limited to general and trivial stuff like the weather, Singapore Idol, TV dramas etc. There's no way you can talk about personal and controversial matters on the public transport unless you want the whole world to know about you or you want to spend a period of time behind bars.
3) Convenience. Not every place that one wants to go is located near the MRT station or bus-stop. Sure one can always take the cab. But when returning, what are the chances of one flagging down a cab at the deserted place?
4) Saves time. Example: My home to Jurong - by car: 35 min (non-peak hour), 50 min (peak hour). By public transport - minimum 100 minutes. Yes, there are counter examples but most of the time, my point is generally true.
5) Increase bonding time. Imagine 30 minutes a day with your loved ones in the car. That translates to days over a period of time. Sure, you can increase bonding time with your kid on the public transport but it won't be quality time due to reason number 2.
6) Thrill of driving. I loathe it when females who can afford it do not drive/learn how to drive. They say they prefer being chauffered around by their boyfriend. They obviously don't know they are missing a lot in life. I just love blasting my favourite song on the radio while speeding down expressways. Yes, traffic jams are irritating but it builds up one's patience and lets you admire the different types of cars on the roads.
7) Prestige. One of the 5Cs. No explanation needed. If one can afford it, one would obviously drive a car rather than take public transport.
Yap, that's it. On a related topic, I didn't have to pay parking fees today even though I parked for 2.5hours. Maybe the gods were trying to cheer me up after a lousy day yesterday. I hope there would be more compensations to come.
In my opinion, our transport system is close to being top-notch. Those whiners obviously haven't stepped out of this little dot to experience the public transport outside Singapore. With the peanuts they are paying for public transport fares, what do they expect to get in return? Yes, public transport fares are rising over the years, but it is still low compared to other countries.
Anyway, even if Singapore does have a world class transport system, does it really mean that they would choose public transport over the car? I reckon not. Here are my reasons why the car wins hands down.
1) Comfort. Maximum number of people in a normal car? 5. Bus? I don't know. Probably 50-100 for a double-decker bus. MRT? Hundreds or even thousand. And the most annoying part of public transport: The person standing or sitting next to you might just be a stinko who keeps picking his nose or a psycho who keeps staring at you.
2) Privacy. With strangers surrounding you in the MRT or bus, conversations with your friend(s) are limited to general and trivial stuff like the weather, Singapore Idol, TV dramas etc. There's no way you can talk about personal and controversial matters on the public transport unless you want the whole world to know about you or you want to spend a period of time behind bars.
3) Convenience. Not every place that one wants to go is located near the MRT station or bus-stop. Sure one can always take the cab. But when returning, what are the chances of one flagging down a cab at the deserted place?
4) Saves time. Example: My home to Jurong - by car: 35 min (non-peak hour), 50 min (peak hour). By public transport - minimum 100 minutes. Yes, there are counter examples but most of the time, my point is generally true.
5) Increase bonding time. Imagine 30 minutes a day with your loved ones in the car. That translates to days over a period of time. Sure, you can increase bonding time with your kid on the public transport but it won't be quality time due to reason number 2.
6) Thrill of driving. I loathe it when females who can afford it do not drive/learn how to drive. They say they prefer being chauffered around by their boyfriend. They obviously don't know they are missing a lot in life. I just love blasting my favourite song on the radio while speeding down expressways. Yes, traffic jams are irritating but it builds up one's patience and lets you admire the different types of cars on the roads.
7) Prestige. One of the 5Cs. No explanation needed. If one can afford it, one would obviously drive a car rather than take public transport.
Yap, that's it. On a related topic, I didn't have to pay parking fees today even though I parked for 2.5hours. Maybe the gods were trying to cheer me up after a lousy day yesterday. I hope there would be more compensations to come.
posted by The Aspiring Chef @ 6:52 PM
2 Comments:
At 4:08 AM,
Anonymous said…
eh i disagree completely with you.
i went through quite a number of transport system in overseas, and singapore's one really pales in comparision.
and our public transport (if you exclude taxi) is not cheap at all.
more like you're the typical singapore who prefer the comfort and convenience of car (me too).
wonder why? because the public transport system here is still very low standard compared to developed countries. (please don't compare to developing countries)
my suggestion would be to travel overseas and take public transport, don't just rent car or go on group tour.
our system is weak.
At 9:08 PM,
The Aspiring Chef said…
Which countries' transport system are you impressed with?
I'm pretty satisfied with our MRT in Singapore. I know I can rely on it to bring me to a destination punctually at least 99% of the time.
I can't say the same thing about buses. People always complain about long waiting time for buses. But seriously, what can be done? It's unfair to blame it on the relevant authorities on uncontrollable factors such as slow traffic on the roads. The suggestion is always to increase the frequency of buses. What does that translate to? Increase in bus fares. But are commuters willing to pay? No.
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