tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2155178853254594593.post5297076458431677337..comments2012-05-04T08:25:09.771-07:00Comments on My views on SG: Public Transport: Why so many problems?Mimihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12574907564684542892noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2155178853254594593.post-72119739354173200662012-04-15T06:25:19.771-07:002012-04-15T06:25:19.771-07:00If the standards here improve, then I have no qual...If the standards here improve, then I have no qualms with paying more. After all, what you pay is what you get. But what i'm afraid is that most of the profits have been "sucked off" by "something" or "someone", thus leaving the company with almost nothing to improve the plight and standards of new drivers. Otherwise, why would a profiting private company require 1.1b from the Government to help them purchase buses and their operating costs?Mimihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12574907564684542892noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2155178853254594593.post-22672933694928007482012-04-15T03:37:24.100-07:002012-04-15T03:37:24.100-07:00Thanks for the reply mimi!
With regard to public ...Thanks for the reply mimi!<br /><br />With regard to public safety, I completely agree that we should adopt a high standards/zero-tolerance attitude. <br /><br />In the Sengkang case, I think the response of SBS abt the compensation was definitely wrong but thankfully they did the right thing in the end, which is most important. Also, I think their initial flip-flopping was probably more to do with bad PR and lack of experience with these types of incidents than any malice or ill-intent.<br /><br />With regard to the safety standards and training of drivers, my concern is that Singaporeans are trying to depict these in terms of foreigners being incompetent and useless etc. (especially if you read all the new media sites), which I don't think is fair nor is it the root cause of problems. <br /><br />In my personal view (and having spoken to friends who were former employees in SBS/ Comfort DelGro), I think the dropping safety performance is mainly due to over-working of drivers. Drivers now do longer shifts with shorter, less-regular rest breaks. As a result they are naturally more tired (maybe even exhausted) and so less alert and sharp at the wheel. That results in the kinds of lapses and accidents we've seen in recent weeks. <br /><br />The main reason for this is not surprising; lack of drivers! And this is not easy to solve since very few (if any) Singaporeans want to take up jobs as drivers/captains. So the PTOs have to recruit from overseas. <br /><br />Also, with regard to your point on prices, it is worth noting that Singapore has generally low fares compared to most developed cities with similar populate sizes (again HK and Taipei are close but the rest are way more expensive - http://www.priceoftravel.com/595/public-transportation-prices-in-80-worldwide-cities/). Even with recent price hikes, we're still one of the most affordable cities in terms of purchasing power parity. <br /><br />Also, the price increases have been less than the increase in fuel prices, so in other words, the PTO's have absorbed most of the increase in costs. We Singaporean commuters also tend to remember only the price increases and forget the price reductions, see;<br />http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1051320/1/.html<br />and<br />http://www.sbstransit.com.sg/download/Fare_reduction_20090221.pdf<br /><br />Also, keep in mind that in the end, someone has to pay for the services. Its either the commuters or the government (i.e. tax revenue) which is also basically our money!<br /><br />xxvanessa kohhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17956802126306877401noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2155178853254594593.post-36798635367260307952012-04-15T02:41:06.371-07:002012-04-15T02:41:06.371-07:00I did not say that the "sleeping top guns&quo...I did not say that the "sleeping top guns" are the cause (maybe my wordings caused some confusion), and while I did not propose a solution, I did suggest the root of the problems in my last paragraph, and if my assumptions are true, then it makes solutions nothing more than cheap talk. <br /><br />In case you don't what my last paragraph is talking about (it's a bit vague), I'll say that it has something to do with Government interest and profits.Mimihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12574907564684542892noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2155178853254594593.post-41935054040552720252012-04-15T02:30:17.517-07:002012-04-15T02:30:17.517-07:00True, maybe we should stop complaining about train...True, maybe we should stop complaining about train breakdowns, but when innocent lives are involved, we just cannot afford to be so lax in our behavior and show tolerance towards these sub-standards. In the Sengkang case, the green man was flashing and the old lady was already halfway across the road, but the bus did not stop and just ran her over. What's even worse is that SBS flip-flopped in its response to the victim's family when they asked SBS to pay for the body's repatriation to Malaysia.<br /><br />I admit that a lot of Singaporeans like to complain, sometimes too much, but it pisses us off even more when transport companies raises our fares with the promise that problems will be resolved, yet the problems only intensified.Mimihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12574907564684542892noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2155178853254594593.post-46209445674313684982012-04-14T21:33:52.238-07:002012-04-14T21:33:52.238-07:00Hi Mimi,
Although I understand ur frustration wit...Hi Mimi,<br /><br />Although I understand ur frustration with all the recent breakdowns, I just feel that we as Singaporeans should also have some perspective. I've lived in several cities around the world (NYC, London, HK, Taipei + short periods in Seoul and Chicago) and Singapore's MRT and public transport system is considerably better that any of these cities. <br /><br />In most of those cities, intervals between trains are usually much longer, breakdowns are accepted as part of life (in fact I used to always check the service status of the trains on my phone b4 I left my house), whole train lines are shut down for days at a time and overcrowding is much much much worse (not just during peak hours but most of the day). Prices are also much higher in these other cities, I believe Singapore is one of the cheapest (HK and Taipei are close but the others are all way more expensive).<br /><br />I am not saying that just because it happens in other countries, it is acceptable for it to happen here. In fact, I think it is a good thing that we demand high standards from our public services. But we must also have some sense of perspective and not get so overly worked up every time something goes wrong, as if the sky is falling down! My friends from London were here on holiday during the December breakdowns and they we shocked by how angry singaporeans got because of it. It seems we have become so pampered and used to near-perfection that we have forgotten how to respond constructively when things go wrong.<br /><br />Just my 2 cents. xxvanessa kohhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17956802126306877401noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2155178853254594593.post-44997557697061076422012-04-14T21:13:14.953-07:002012-04-14T21:13:14.953-07:00you suggest that "commuters do not care about...you suggest that "commuters do not care about the cause. What they want is a solution."<br /><br />Yet you instead decide to assert that 'top guns..sleeping at the top' is the cause and do not make any attempt to propose a solution.Alvinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12122399793528377418noreply@blogger.com