NightRider fares up!

last SG · 2008-05-18T05:07:26+00:00

Luckily i drive & ride mostly in Malaysia where i do enjoy to the fullest. LOL... I am going to germany in june. Experiencing their ICE and their normal...

jayh272416 SG

No. As much as people on the buses complain that private vehicles are hogging their lanes, people on the cars complain that buses are not sticking to theirs.

It's mutual.

Not true. It is law that car is not supposed to be on the bus lane, but since when did the government say that buses are not supposed to be on the other lanes?

jayh272416 SG

I don't see any word or phrase in the post which suggests that.

buses have to go out onto lanes meant for private cars -> Build more bus lanes such that the buses do not go out onto lanes meant for private cars -> have 2 bus lanes

Oceane SG

Not true. It is law that car is not supposed to be on the bus lane, but since when did the government say that buses are not supposed to be on the other lanes?

That is why, BCs are abusing the fact that they will not be pressed down if they hog other lanes, giving private car users the impression that BCs are out to bully them.

jayh272416 SG

That is why, BCs are abusing the fact that they will not be pressed down if they hog other lanes, giving private car users the impression that BCs are out to bully them.

You have a valid point, now here's my solution. Make a second lane along those double-stop routes. Then can implement the law that buses must stick to their lanes unless turning.

Oceane SG

You have a valid point, now here's my solution. Make a second lane along those double-stop routes. Then can implement the law that buses must stick to their lanes unless turning.

Not possible. Double stops are mostly found along city areas whereby traffic volume is extremely high. To have another lane for buses, it would bring traffic jams if all cars abide to the bus lane rules, that is. Do note that most roads along CBD area are 3-4 lanes on average, if 2 lanes are given for buses, that only leaves 1-2 lanes for cars and other private vehicles. Massive jams would occur.

jayh272416 SG

Oh. If that's the case, then we just have to listen to those car drivers complain about the buses cutting in, because there's no other way that the buses can get past the bus stop to stop at the next one.

Oceane SG

Have to wait. =( Thats the disadvantage of having dual bus stops.

MS SG

I certainly hope that I am over-sensitive. But those who have responded to my posts seems to take things very personal.

Personal transports are able to offer the mobility which public transport can never give. Drive to the Mcdonald's 2km away with sweatless effort at 2am on a Sunday Morning. Appear in the Changi Warehouse at 9am and spend the next 2 hours checking the products and having company lunch with your boss at 12pm at Raffles Marina. Driving/riding up to Malacca on a Saturday in less than 3 hours from the time you leave your house. Have lunch over there and shop around before coming back home before sun down. Not forgetting to enjoy the drive.

Indeed, personal transports are always tagged along with 'luxury'. Considering the costs involved, in Singapore, personal transports are not meant for everybody. (but not true for small motorcycles. I calculated before that small motorcycles spend lesser than public transport if you span them over a 10 year period. And do not forget the greatly enhanced mobility you will have.)

Statistics have shown that the approximate car to people population in Singapore is 1:9 while Germany is 1:3

Instead of giving yourself only the choice of public transports, why don't you render yourself capable of making choices. You can opt to drive today or when you don't feel like it, you can take a bus. Because you become financially capable and owns the necessary licence to own a personal transport.

About affecting the road congestion, you should take note that the current public transport stronghold is already struggling to meet the demands of the public. You wouldn't want 50% of personal transport owners to join in the squeeze with you during peak periods.

Try asking those who're operating on personal transports as all started off with public transport. Given the opportunity again, will they physically forsake their personal transports for public transports

again. Even with increasing operating costs of personal transports, the stats shown from onemotoring only shows an increase in personal transport rather than decline.

Please take my posts with respect as I am merely stating a point of view missed out by most people. There's no intention to humiliate anyone no matter what. I respect bus fans as much as I hope bus fans will reciprocate the goodwill gesture.

Thanks.

Airbus330Captain SG

pls pls, no arguement.. U can PM him if u want to continue.

Chickenlittle: Are you following the thread at all? Please wake up and have a look at the posts not only by me but others as well. I suggest to you not to embarass yourself next time. Best of all, stay out of it.

MS:

It's your postings that's why you get this kind of replies.

chickenlittle2 SG

MS:

It's your postings that's why you get this kind of replies.

So you are playing boss here?My foot.So what if other people also say so? Are u creating an arguement ground here? I dun think there are any flaming required. What MS said is quite true, I had been taking public transport since young. You would find it frustrated when buses are frequently late or overcrowded but nothing are done or improvement is minimum. This is similar to train. I do understand that congestion during the peak hour are getting worst. I do not drive during the peak hours. I own a red plate car now, so I dun think it would really cause great congestion.

SBS315T SG

. Chickenlittle2 owns a car tought he underaged

MS SG

MS:

It's your postings that's why you get this kind of replies.

I beg to differ. If you checked previous postings, as long as someone posts something about conversion to personal transport, there will be someone flaming him. Even though it is merely a post of encouragement to convert to personal transport for the sake of self upgrading or personal life improvement or even meant as an amusing joke.

This is because of the issue of low self esteem in this aspect. There have been discussions about people who are very against personal transports because they were either not financially capable or do not have a licence. Therefore they will put down anyone who talks about personal transport to them.

I hope my blunt reply is not going to sound offensive as this is truely what I feel from the bottom of my heart. I like buses, and even do projects to improve the technical aspects of buses with modifications. Study and learn about buses, doing hands on with components of buses. Then take a ride in one of my baby with my improved version of modifications. However I take buses as a form of hobby. Or you can say for fun. Because I drive my car most of the time. And naturally I also conduct hands on projects and study on cars and motorcycles too. Basically any form of automotive engineering interests me. But I do not feel inferior about taking buses or when someone tells me about personal transport. This is because I worked hard towards this goal of having financial capabilities to own a reasonably priced continental car comfortably. I even have the spare finance to go to Europe for a holiday for obvious reasons (automotives).

And frankly to say, I was also stuck with public transport 11 years ago. I also put down anyone who talk to me about personal transport. But after years, I really think about it. Seeing my classmate drive/ride without problems for mobility. And I must rely on the operational efficiency of public transport. I really thought hard whether do I want to be like this for the rest of my life. And I knew I had to do something if I want improvement to my lifestyle. And I took the painstaking efforts to clear all my 3 motorcycle licences and my car licence. Being financially strapped, I still went ahead with proper expenditure planning. Eventually got all my 4 licences after 4 years.

I can assure you. From the moment you have your own personal transport, regardless it's a car or a bike. You life will change tremendously. This speaks for those who lived in a poor family who never had the chance of sitting in your dad's car because of not having a dad.

Think about this:

(1) First and foremost, having a greatly enhanced mobility.

(2) No more squeezing with sweaty people in the buses or trains. The bus/train ride has to be enjoyable. Not as a means of operational usage.

(3) No more long waits and subjected to the operational chopping board of the public transport.

(4) Having a higher pay than the masses to facilitate a more comfortable lifestyle.

(5) When you go to Europe for a tour, you can even drive around 'Top Gear' style.

Therefore I really encourage those who're currently stuck with public transport to look beyond. Upgrade yourself by giving yourself more choices. Upgrade your financial status. Consider whether are you satisfied with the path you're expected to travel on.

Please no more flaming. And think rationally whether who is the trouble-maker.

sinicker SG

i been watching this thread the past days and i feel that, myself, as a user of both public and private transportation, share my experiences.

i depended on public transportation from young. my father had his own motorcycle for himself. when we go out as a family, we would either cab or take bus/train.

my dad said i should take up driving which i did.

i only drive on certain instances.

1. where there's too many transfers if i take the bus/train.
2. where no bus/train goes there.
3. when i go out till late.
4. when i have a few places to go.
5. when it's really, really far a drive takes 30mins, a train/bus ride takes 1hr30mins.

let's list when i dont drive.

1. when the roads i will have to drive are prone to jams(but there's bus lanes!).
2. when i go to town where parking is expensive & ERP are aplenty.
3. when the family car isnt available. duh.

like what MS said, i enjoyed never-before a sense of mobility. i can go wherever i want, whatever time i want. simpang bedok till 2/3am for that soccer match with my friends, chalets that only end late in the night. macdonalds at 4am.

and i also dont like how when taking the bus i'm sticking with a schedule the bus driver has to follow. today i was joyriding and took 9386 on 65 from harbourfront to tampines. it was a smooth ride from harbourfront except until after the junction of bedok reservoir road & bedok north road ext.

it started to roadhog. socially ill driving methods like slowing down drastically approaching junctions... waiting for that red light to come up & braking hard once it lights began for the remaining trip to tampines int. i reckon the BC was ahead of schedule. buses of various services started to overtake my 65.

instantly, it struck me. THIS is the reason why i drive. i dont think we should stick to schedules even though the road is clear. you are wasting time for 20-odd passengers in the bus.

i know people will flame me for saying "go drive lah" or so on along these lines. but these are issues which we have to address as more & more ppl are getting their own cars as a form of greater mobility which they feel they cant fulfill as yet with our current public transport system, that our government apparently says it's world class but they themselves dont use it.

people want to know that when they go public..

1. they dont have to squeeze.
2. the buses drive promptly to their destination(no roadhogging, no speeding, just.. cover up the traffic ahead)

efforts are coming up to get people to ditch the cars which i do when i go certain places. we all can note this. Premium, ffw, cityshopper.

however when i go to say, upp thomson for prata from my home in tampines. no choice, gotta take the car.

so till now, i'm still commuting with both public & private transport.. just using the better choice depending on the destination i'm headed..

chickenlittle2 SG

. Chickenlittle2 owns a car tought he underaged

I do not know u?

Oceane SG

I second your thoughts.

To make public transport more efficient, the following should be done (IMO):

1) Make passengers not the victim of slow driving. It totally sucks seeing your driver go at a snail's pace just to waste time due to the fact he was ahead of schedule.
2) Introduce more services to link up more areas where MRT stations have not been built up yet; it is always possible to withdraw them after opening of MRT stations.
3) Reduce waiting time (obviously).

Just to add on, I've seen BCs that purposely slow down before traffic junctions, hoping for it to turn amber and then they stop. I mean, why not just go at your normal pace? Is it really necessary to increase travelling time for passengers unnecessarily?

I hope the respective management can start out to revise all bus schedules such that buses can deliver passengers to their destinations to their shortest time possible. It makes no sense for a person to take a bus to get from Point A to Point B in 2 freaking long hours if he can drive by car there in 45 minutes.

MS SG

After spending 2 years working in the public transport industry, I feel that it is not possible for the public transport to be as efficient as a personal transport in every single aspect unless the public is willing to pay.

A greatly enhanced mobility is the 1st and foremost critical aspect the personal transport easily outperforms. But do not neglect the issue of immense costs involved to own a personal transport. In order to cut down on the costs and be immune to jams, the motorcycle is a good choice. But again, the issue of operating risks is imminent.

It is about a balance between the odds and to find out which form of land transport suits you most. Because you have a choice.

I have my own car and do not need to share with anyone. My job sometimes require me to attend dinners at places like rochester park and dempsey hill. Pulling up on a bike at the restaurant with my overseas clients and bosses do not look appropriate at all. And moreover, having a car offers me an advantage of communicating with my overseas clients and bosses in private while ferrying them from hotel to destination. I don't mind jams as I don't have a choice if I have to pass by Orchard Road where most of my overseas clients and bosses usually stay when they're here. I don't pass by during ERP operating hours that frequently. I am too used to my mobility and am not prepared to ditch it. I can call 1 of our old time bus fan suddenly in the evening from my home in the far west and appear at his void deck 30mins later in Bishan. The costs of running the vehicle is quite affordable to me. So I opt for the car instead of the bike and public transport.

Taking the public transport to me is a form of joy ride. I have my ways to enjoy exclusive joyrides without the hassles of the mass public sharing the bus with me. I also have the opportunity to study the chassis and power generation/transmission compartments.

When you have a choice, you lives will become greatly improved. And when I talked about my passion on buses, no one ever talked about why am I obssessed with buses or calling me names like 'freaks' because they know I also have my other transports. Don't be looked down upon as 'freaks' who cannot afford to buy a car. I understand the feeling as I was being branded like that many years ago. Be someone who can afford to make choices like Siniker to find the most profitable way of travelling and enjoy every single moment of it.

sBs_boy SG

Guys,

We are at a thread discussing about the rise in NightRider Fares.. Not a thread about Personal Transport vs Public Transport. We are seriously out of point over here. Do the discussion elsewhere ??

Zilchster SG

To make car ownership less attractive is to make owning a car unaffordable. Maybe Singapore can raise parking rates higher

stooper SG

To make car ownership less attractive is to make owning a car unaffordable. Maybe Singapore can raise parking rates higher

No difference one lah, the govt raise the ERP rates dunno how many times, yet, still jam.

sbst275 SG

it's making COE expensive or import taxes higher

making parking rates or ERP higher wun really solve... didn't anyone realise it's after making car ownership cheaper tat the jams started to come?

personally I do have a car, but 90% of the time relies on public tpt

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