LTA has yet again spoke up.
They said, in order to persuade car owners to give up car
ownership, they must make their PT convincing and
efficient.
However, I understand that the reason people want to own a car
is to so that they can drive around to places PT cannot easily
reach. And also due to the lack of MRT stations at some estates and
the limited choices of slow and long-winded bus routes to the
city.
LTA has done efforts such as introducing new svcs to improve
connectivity and CityDirect svcs too. But why are most people still
refusing to give up driving?
Here's what I think LTA can try:
1. Introduce express svcs on buses. That means,
buses that run limited-stop services on current bus services. Eg.
Svc 5 can have express svc 5X that skips some stops and head
straight to the city, only stopping at some major stops. They can
run full day, everyday on a perhaps hourly basis, allowing pax to
have a choice to get faster rides.
2. Since LTA has always looked towards HK's minibus system, I
suggest POs invest their resources on the red-minibus system in HK
instead of those Townlinks short trips which I can foresee little
effect. The buses can lead to places that normal fixed routes
cannot conveniently reach and that the buses can also link places
which currently require several transfers to reach.
3. Taxi system is a major catastrophe in Singapore. Limited
number of cabs, picky drivers, and countless surcharges. How is the
current drivers gonna get appealed to switch to taxis then? (I
count taxis as PT since there will be much less taxis than cars)
Maybe LTA can ask POs to reduce the surcharges and also put strict
rules on driver's choice and shift changes etc. Increasing the
number of taxis also allow people to get a cab quickly and also
increases demand and competition between the drivers (this better
service).
As I have said, these are only me two cents. So pls don't take
it too hard and do feel free to reply. Please also feel free to
comment what are your suggestions. Thanks!!
SBS and SMRT should buy more MANdys and Superlions~ bendy bus make
PT better and more attractive for people switch to bus~
